My yoga class was wondering about omega-3 fatty acids. We know they are good for us, by why? And what kind should we look for? Thanks for the advice!
Signed, Flexible Folk in Falmouth.
Dear Folk:
What a great question! My patients ask me this all the time. We all know there are good fats and bad fats. But dig a little deeper and one quickly gets lost in a bottomless pit of alphabet soup: EPA, DHA, ALA, GLA, omega-3, -6 and -9, oh my! Hopefully this fatty acid primer will help to clarify (cooking pun!) things a bit.
Let’s start with the basics. What are fatty acids? They’re like oil for our engines: they help us run smoothly. Their tongue-twister names (say “eicosapentanoic acid” 10 times fast) refer to the microscopic shape of the fatty chains. The bad guys (think trans fats and most saturated fats) have all kinds of twists and kinks in their chains. They get sticky, build up gunky plaques and do a lot of damage. The good guys (known as monounsaturated fatty acids, or MUFAs and polyunsaturated fatty acids, or PUFAs) are nice and compact. They put out the fires and clean up the mess. EPA and DHA are two kinds of PUFAs found in fish oil. ALA and GLA are commonly found in plant foods like olive oil, nuts and seeds and avocados.
So how do MUFAs and PUFAs help us? You know healthy fats mean healthy cholesterol profiles. But did you know they also help treat depression and bipolar disorder? The list of health benefits goes on and on: heart attack and stroke prevention, treatment of blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer prevention, help with attention deficit disorder and autism, healthy fetal brain development, and benefits for allergic conditions like asthma, eczema and psoriasis.
They’re just plain good for you!
Unless you’re an Eskimo, your diet is probably deficient in omega-3 fatty acids. That’s why I recommend cod liver oil supplements for almost all my patients. But which to chose from? For general health, look for a 2:1 to 1:1 ratio of EPA to DHA. Go for about one to three grams (1000 to 3000 mg) a day. Certain conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, bipolar disorder and autism require different ratios and dosing — best to consult with a practitioner with expertise.
Any downsides to fish oil? Unfortunately, our fish supply is contaminated with mercury, PCBs, dioxins and other pollutants. Make sure you get a supplement that has been “molecularly distilled” and independently tested for contaminants. Also, fish is something that vegetarians and vegans generally avoid. Flax seed oil (ALA) and evening primrose oil (GLA) provide some essential fatty acids, but they don’t work as well. Lastly, if you might become pregnant, watch out for supplements with high amounts of vitamin A, which is toxic to the fetus. Limit your total intake of vitamin A to 3000mcg.
Hope that helps you stay flexible in Falmouth. And keep those questions coming, folks! Be well.
Sean McCloy, MD, MPH, MA is the medical director at Maine Integrative Wellness in Portland. He is dual board-certified in family medicine and holistic medicine. He specializes in integrative family medicine and can be seen walking around the Old Port with his therapy dog, Hershey. Send questions for Sean to editor@themaineswitch.com.