Fats

Health and Fatty Acids / Essential Fatty Acids

Health and Fatty Acids

Different fatty acids have different effects on our health.
We know that blood lipid and cholesterol levels are important predictors of coronary heart disease risk.

Essential Fatty Acids

Essential fatty acids, as the name suggests can not be synthesised in the body and so it is essential that they are provided in our diets to avoid deficiency symptoms.

The essential fatty acids are linoleic (from the omega-6 family) and alpha-linolenic acid (from the omega-3 family).

Essential fatty acid deficiency is rare, except for those who suffer from severe fat malabsorption, or in starvation. In countries where adults may consume less that 10% of their total energy from fat, the incidence of essential fatty acid deficiency is rare. Essential fatty acid deficiency in adults has been reported when linoleic intakes have been in the range of 2-5g per day, or less than 1-2% of total energy intake. Most Western diets will provide at least 10g of essential fatty acids per day. In addition, most people have a substantial reserve in adipose tissues.

Role of essential fatty acids

These fatty acids are required for the structure of all cell membranes. They are also metabolised into longer chain polyunsaturated fatty acids that are precursors to a group of hormone-like eicosanoid compounds called, prostaglandins and leukotrienes. These compounds work on a number of physiological processes in the body including reproduction, blood pressure, and inflammation.
Longer chain polyunsaturated fatty acids themselves can be obtained from the diet in foods such as oily fish, which contain significant amounts of the fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid. There is some debate as to whether the incorporation of these fatty acids comes predominantly from the endogenous desaturation and elongation of dietary essential fatty acids or whether they are obtained from the diet as preformed fatty acids.