Essential Fats For Optimal Health

There are two primary types of essential fats: Omega-6 and Omega-3
fatty acids.
Our body is unable to make them and the only way to get them is from
our diet or via supplementation.

Essential fats or essential fatty acids are necessary nutrients for the
body to produce key hormones called eicasinoids.
They have been referred to as the body's super hormones and are
made by every cell in our body.

There are several different eicasinoids that have the opposite effect
on the body's functions and either increase or decrease inflammation.
Both of these functions are critical for optimal health.

In general, the Omega-3 fatty acids become eicasinoids that decrease
inflammation in our bodies (natural anti-inflammatories) and Omega-6
fatty acids become eicasinoids that cause inflammation.

When you are injured you need an inflammatory reaction in order to
heal this injury, but once the wound is healed, this inflammatory process
has to stop. That's why eicasinoids have the ability to either intensify
or diminish inflammation in our body.
They can also increase or decrease the clotting tendency of the blood.
 It is critical that these two potentials are well balanced.

Consequently,the balance of Omega-3 and Omega-6 we take in,
becomes critical for our optimal health and has to be in the right ratio,
preferrably 1 : 1 or 1 : 2 at least.

In our modern society, this ratio is out of balance and we have too much
Omega-6 in our body, which causes to much inflammation.
There is plenty of Omega-6 in our diet, it is present in chicken,dairy
products, processed carbohydrates, peanut oil and safflower oil.
 
This is the underllying cause of numerous diseases, like heart disease,
asthma, arthritis, major depression, autoimmune disease, inflammatory
bowel disease etc.

Heart Disease
Dr Terry Jacobson revieved over a dozen large clinical trials that
looked at the health benefits of supplementing Omega-3 fatty acids in
over 20,000 participants who had coronary artery disease.
These clinical trials showed that the group who consumed the Omega-3
fatty acids in the form of fish oil capsules , had nearly a 20% decreased
incidence of cardiovascular events.

Adding Omega-3 fatty acids to your diet not only lower inflammation,
but also lower one's total and LDL or bad cholesterol.
This health benefit shows even more in those people that are not
consuming much in the way of cold-water fish or other sources of
Omega-3 fatty acids.
 
Rheumatoid Arthritis
There are thirteen clinical trials that show benefits of Omega-3
supplementation for patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
There was improvement in all their symptoms, like early morning
stiffness, pain, and in the number of tender joints.
One important result was a measurable decrease in the inflammatory
products being produced by the body and a stabilization in the course
of their disease.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis)
Many clinical studies have measured the body's increased production
of inflammatory products.
When fish oil supplements where given to  these patients,not only where
these products reduced but the patients experienced significant
clinical improvements.

The most exciting thing they found was the fact that many patients were
be able to reduce their dependence on steroid medication
Also their bowel pattern showed significant improvement when these patients received repeat biopsies.

Asthma
Asthma is mainly an inflammatory disease of the lungs.
This inflammation sets off the bronchospasm which is characteristic
for ths disease. These patients have a significant increase in
inflammatory products, which are found in the lungs.
After supplementation with Omega-3 fatty acis, many responded
positive and the results were definitely encouraging.

Major Depression and Bipolar Disorder
Psychological stress has proved to be the cause of a significant
increase in these inflammatory products, triggered by an unbalance
of Omega-3 & Omega-6 fatty acids.

The medical community believes this to be the main reason for the
development of depression.
Studies are allready showing prolonged remission with the reduction
 of relapse in patients with bipolar disorder in those who supplement
with Omega-3 fatty acids.

Conclusion.
It is a proven fact that the general population has too much inflammation
in their body as a result of to much consumption of Omega-6 fatty acids,
which is the root cause of many chronic degenerative diseases.

Because most people have a problem with increasing the Omega-3
to take in, everyone should start with supplementing their diet with
high-quality , filtered, pharmaceutical-grade fish oil capsules.
As an alternative , taking in flaxseed or cold-pressed flaxseed oil will
also do the job

This additional Omega-3 intake will offer the building blocks  of
our natural anti-inflammatory products.
As we bring inflammation back into normal balance,significant health improvements and decrease in risk of heart attacks and sudden death
can be the result.  .