What are Essential Fatty Acids and Their Benefits?
By Jacobus Hollewijn
Your Daily Health Pearl Minute # 5
Essential Fatty Acids, or EFA’s, are fats that are very important for our health (they are essential!) but we’re not able to make them ourselves.
So, in order to get their benefits we need to supply our diet with them.
EFA’s are recommended to regulate cholesterol and blood pressure, and help to lower our risk for heart disease and strokes. Essential Fatty Acids also benefit healthy hair, skin, and nails, and help with hormone balancing and immune health.
Your primary EFA’s are OMEGA-3 and OMEGA-6.
OMEGA-3 is best-known in the form of fish oil. Otherwise it is found in specific seeds, such as flax and chia. OMEGA-6’s are primarily found in nuts, grains, beans, and in all other seeds.
For now, most important to know about OMEGA-3 is that it always has an ANTI-Inflammatory effect on our body. And that, given the many IN-flammatory symptoms many of us are suffering from (think any disorders ending with -itis), we simply do NOT consume enough of them.
OMEGA-6, on the other hand, we eat too much of.
And, in spite of the need and the benefits they provide, they can become inflammatory in the body.
So, if you don’t change anything else in your diet and lifestyle, make sure you are getting more OMEGA-3!
Subscribe to the Podcast
The purpose of this website is to inform, educate, and entertain, not to diagnose, treat, or cure. Jacobus is not a licensed physician. If you intend to utilize any of the information contained in the articles and/or podcasts, it is recommend you see a licensed, competent medical provider of your choice, or find additional information from other reputable sources. I cannot control the opinions of my guests. I will double-check my facts in good faith, but may not be able to fully verify every statement made by any third party. If you utilize any information from this Website, you do so at your own risk.
