OMEGA-3 Fatty Acid

Omega-3 is an essential Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid, which our body needs for its daily functions, but cannot produce by itself and must therefore import through food and food supplements.

There are three main groups of fatty acids that comprise the various types of fats:

1. Saturated Fatty Acids – main source is in animals (meat, eggs & milk).
2. Monounsaturated Fatty Acids – found in olives, canola & avocado.
3. Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids – divided into two subgroups:
   • Omega 3, whose main sources include coldwater fish, seaweed and sea plants and several land plants such as flax & gillyflower.
   • Omega 6, whose main sources include fruit, legumes, corn kernels, soybeans palm, nuts and meat of animals raised on weed. Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids are necessary for the optimal function of every cell in our body. Their primary purpose is to maintain membrane flexibility for every cell so that all cell receptors can receive and transmit messages on the one hand, and Facilitate metabolism on the other.

Tremendous importance should be assigned to the ratio between the two Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in our body, Omega-3 and Omega-6. The acceptable ratio is the 1:1 ratio that had existed until dietary habits in the Western world changed following the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century.

The current ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 in Europe is 1:20
The current ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 in the USA is 1:30
This huge imbalance between the two Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids has wreaked havoc on our body.