Essential fatty acids

The main types of the fatty acids is the polyunsaturated, saturated, and monounsaturated. The fats that contain a high proportion of saturated fatty acids are the solid at the room temperature. They are commonly known as the saturated fats which are mostly derived from the animal source like butter, suet, and lad. Most of the plant fats are high in the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats except for the coconut and palm fats that are high saturated. The two polyunsaturated fatty acids cannot be made in the body. The two main types are alpha linolenic acid and linoleic acid. They are needed to be provided with the diet and are called as essential fatty acids. Linoleic acid belongs to the Omega 6 family and alpha-linolenic acid belongs to the Omega 3 family. 

There are two main types of the essential fatty acids. Omega 3 and Omega 6 are the two essential fatty acids. The research also says that it is necessary to in take these fatty acids in right proportion and right ratio. For an instance, the brain requires of 1:1 ratio of the Omega 3 and Omega 6 for optimal functioning. Both these essential fatty acids are found in the leafy plants that are consumed mainly by the roaming animals. Both omega 3 and omega 6 are bountiful fatty acids. The fat in the grazing ruminant and wild animals is roughly seen about seven times more of omega 3 fatty acids than the animals that are raised for the commercial meat. When these animals are deprived of grass, the eggs and meat that they offer fall short in the Omega 3 amount. There is another good fatty acid discovered known as linolenic acid. It has the most abundant source of CLA and is found mainly in the bone and meat of the ruminant grazing animals.

The essential fatty acids are indispensable as they offer building blocks for various eicosanoids. Most of the hormone-like chemicals are also popularly known as prostaglandins. The Eicosanoids helps lowering the blood pressure, open and constrict the bronchial passages, raise the temperature of body, sensitize the nerve fibers and stimulate the hormone production. They also depend on the dietary fats that could directly attribute to certain activities of particular eicosanoids to the fat class that is derived. They have the power to greatly enhance the health by picking the fats and in turn create the eicosanoids.

These fatty acids are composed of the long chains of carbon that has methyl group on one end and acid group on the other end. The saturated fatty acids do not contain double bonds while the polyunsaturated fatty acids have multiple double bonds. The more the double bonds, the more is the degree of unsaturation. The PUFAs are categorized as the Omega 3 and Omega 6 depending on the first double bond at the methyl end. The fatty acids Omega 3 and Omega 6 are only categorized under the essential fatty acids as they cannot be synthesized in one’s body. Thus, it needs to be derived from the diet.