At one time low-fat diets were all the rage. Health conscious consumers carefully selected their purchases based on how many grams of fat they contained and anything that was labeled “fat-free” flew off the shelves. These days more people are aware that you need a certain amount of fat in your diet, and eating food containing fat won’t necessarily expand your waistline.
Why You Need Fat in Your Diet
One reason you need fat in your diet is to supply your body with two essential fatty acids called linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid. These fatty acids are essential because your body needs them for good health but can’t make them. Linoleic acid is called an omega-6 fatty acid based on its structure, and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is an omega-3 fatty acid. Why are these fatty acids so important?
Essential Fatty Acids: Why You Need Fat in Your Diet
Essential fatty acids are needed to make chemicals that regulate inflammation and to make compounds that affect brain development and function. They’re a critical part of cell membranes and play an important role in cholesterol metabolism. They’re also important for healthy skin because they help to prevent skin dryness and flaking.
What happens if you don’t get enough essential fatty acids? Eating a diet with insufficient amounts of these necessary fats causes growth delays in children, low energy levels in adults, poor wound healing, decreased immunity, and dry skin. Not a pretty picture.
Omega-6 vs. Omega-3 Fatty Acids
In addition to getting enough of these two essential fatty acids, you need them in a balanced ratio for optimal health. Most people get far more omega-6 fatty acids like linoleic acid than they do omega-3s. If you eat a typical American diet, you’re getting more than enough omega-6 fatty acids and are most likely lacking in omega-3s. Omega-6 fatty acids are abundant in packaged and processed foods and in the oils used to prepare them.
In contrast, the average person doesn’t get enough omega-3 fatty acids in their diet. The omega-3 essential fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid is converted to other important omega-3s called DHA and EPA. These are the omega-3s found in fatty fish and fish oil supplements that are important for heart health and for reducing inflammation.
Why You Need More Omega-3s
Most people don’t need more omega-6 fatty acids in their diet. Instead, they need to boost their intake of omega-3s. When you consume more omega-6s than omega-3s, it creates an imbalance that increases inflammation and the risk of health problems such as heart disease, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. Adding more omega-3s to your diet helps to balance out the omega-6s that you get too much of. In turn, this helps to lower the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer.
Essential Fatty Acids: Strike a Balance
To balance things out, add more of the essential fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid to the breakfast table by eating more walnuts, flaxseed or flaxseed oil. Sprinkle flaxseeds and walnuts on oatmeal for an omega-3-rich way to start the morning. Canola oil is another good source of ALA.
ALA can be converted to two other omega-3 fatty acids called DHA and EPA that are important for good health. Unfortunately, this conversion isn’t very efficient, so it’s best to get them directly by eating fatty fish or taking a fish oil or omega-3 supplement. Some foods such as eggs are also omega-3 fortified.
The Bottom Line?
Now you know why a fat-free diet isn’t healthy and why it’s important to get the proper balance of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids. For better health, increase the amount of omega-3s in your diet by eating more fatty fish, walnuts, and flaxseed. Boosting the amount of anti-inflammatory omega-3s you eat will help to balance out the omega-6s that cause inflammation. Stop thinking in terms of low-fat and fat-free and think about maintaining a healthy fat balance instead.
References:
Linus Pauling Institute. “Essential Fatty Acids”
RelatedArticles By Cathe:
What Role Do Dietary Fats Play in Building Muscle?
Dietary Fat: How Much Fat Should You Consume Each Day?
Dietary Fats: Five Reasons Not to Fear Them
