Thanks for joining me. I'm Rebecca Mills
with Utah State University Extension. Here to share some wellness wisdom
to help you meet your health goals. Today we are going to sort through some
info about Omega 3 fatty acids. Our topics today will include things
like, What are fatty acids? Why are they important?
Where are they found? And some tips on how to get
your daily dose, so let's get started. Are you overwhelmed by all the
words you hear associated with fat? There are so many, good fat, bad fat,
trans fat, unsaturated fat, grams of fat, calories from fat, fat free, low fat,
high fat, do these pants make my butt look fat?
How can we possibly make sense of it? Well, this is a really great graphic
that I found at good fats 101.com The way they describe it is that fats
are named according to their chemical structure, which ends up being a mix
of carbon and hydrogen atoms linked in what's known as a fatty acid chain.
Without getting too deep into the chemistry here, I'll try and explain and
see how many of those words from the last slide we can define.
When the carbons are connected by single bonds, there are a lot of places for
hydrogen to attach in which case a fat is considered saturated with hydrogen.
When the chain includes double bonds there are fewer places for hydrogen to connect
and the fat is considered unsaturated. The term omega comes in depending on
where the first double bond is found on an unsaturated fat carbon chain
which explains why there are omega three, six, and nine fatty acids.
No thanks to modern science we figured out how to turn good fats,
which are the unsaturated ones into quote-unquote bad fats through a
process called hydrogenation. Basically we figured out how to
unnaturally alter the chemical components and add hydrogen where it wouldn't
typically exist in nature and therefore create a trans fat.
You might be thinking, "but gosh this is all still such a pain trying to remember
the difference between good and bad and how much and all all of that.
Do I really need fat at all? What if I just ate things that
were labeled as low-fat or fat-free? I should be good then right?"
Well, the short answers are yes and no. Yes, we need fat in order for our
bodies to function properly. Fats are a vital source of energy.
They help our bodies absorb certain vitamins and help our skin and cell
membranes remain healthy. The thing you want to be
cautious of in processed foods that are labeled fat-free or low-fat
is sometimes there is extra sugar or salt added to compensate for
lost flavor from removing the fats. In general, you want to limit your
consumption of saturated and trans fats and again these are found in dairy
products, meats, and processed foods. A good way to limit your consumption
is by choosing dairy products with a lower fat content like
1% milk or low-fat cottage cheese. Choosing leaner meats and switching
out those processed foods with whole foods like fruits
and veggies is also a good idea. Now let's take a little deeper
look into those good fats. The unsaturated kinds
including the omega fatty acids. Hopefully you'll see that it isn't as
hard as you might think to get a balance of the good fats in your diet,
so here's some food for thought. Do you have a family history of any
of the following chronic illnesses or diseases:
heart attack, stroke, heart disease, dementia, arthritis, high cholesterol,
ADHD, poor memory, cancer, depression, abnormal heart beat, and glaucoma?
It may or may not surprise you that researchers who are studying the
the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids in our diet are coming to conclusions
about these types of things. Some research has been more
conclusive than others, but researchers generally agree that consuming omega-3
fatty acids is really good for our heart and for our cells.
Omega-3 fatty acids help lower cholesterol, reduce levels of unhealthy
fats in the bloodstream, lower blood pressure, and
reduce inflammation in the body. Some of the other items listed here are
things that are being studied, but may not have conclusive evidence to
support a definitive answer yet. Alright, you might be thinking,
"Okay, Rebecca you have my attention. How can I know I'm getting
these in my diet?" So, I want to show you another
graphic from good fats 101.com talking about the different omega fatty acids.
As you can see from this dra- graphic there are different foods
that provide the different omega fatty acids.
As a side note, omega-3 and omega-6 are considered essential fatty acids because
our bodies can't make them, and we have to get them from our food.
Our bodies can make Omega-9, but eating it is good too.
We usually are able to get our omega-6 because they are found in meat, poultry,
and eggs, and oils that are often already in our foods.
So for the remainder of our discussion today
we'll focus particularly on Omega-3s. When you start looking into Omega-3s in
particular, you're going to start seeing some different acronyms:
EPA, DHA, and ALA. EPA, and DHA are found mostly in fish, shellfish, and algae.
They help keep our body tissues healthy and are a major component of cell
membranes in our eyes and brain. ALA is a version of Omega-3s that's
found in plant-based sources like vegetable oils, flax seeds, and walnuts.
It also plays an important role in maintaining healthy body tissues,
but goes through a conversion process in our bodies before it can become useful.
In that respect, ALA isn't quite as potent of a source of Omega-3s because
it takes more of it to have the same benefits,
although it does provide benefits. Seeing that there are different food
sources and potencies, I want to mention briefly how much omega-3s you should
be getting, and in what ways you can incorporate them into your diet.
So we know there are omega-3s in some food sources,
but that even raises a few questions. For example, what if I'm allergic to fish?
Or fish is expensive? Or I don't even like fish?
Can't I just take a pill or some other vitamin supplement?
And do I have to take it everyday? Let's sort this out.
According to the 2010 dietary guidelines, the daily recommended intake of omega-3
fatty acids is .7 to 1.6 grams a day depending on your age and gender.
It's true that the best source of omega fatty acids is from fish,
and the American Heart Association recommends at least two servings
of fatty fish such as salmon each week. They say that by eating even
this much the levels of omega-3s in your bloodstream can improve.
Because most of us aren't getting enough omega-3s, you might also see
omega-3 included as a fortification in unexpected food items like milk or eggs.
It's also possible to take omega-3s as a supplement either in a pill form,
or it's a common additive to protein shakes, or bars.
If you are allergic to fish, you'll want to be careful to check
if the source of omega-3 is listed in the ingredients is an ALA,
omega-3, or an EPA, or DHA. Remember the EPA and DHA
versions of omega-3s are a derivative of fish oils and can cause a reaction
for some people with fish allergies. The same goes with pill supplements.
Check what kind of omega-3 you're getting in case you have a sensitivity.
There are some documented effects of the result of getting
too much omega-3s as well. For example, in high doses,
fish oil supplements can interact adversely with blood pressure medications,
and depending on the pill they might also contain high levels of vitamins A and D,
so if you are also taking a multivitamin, you'll want to
watch that you're not taking too much of any particular vitamin.
It goes without saying that consuming omega-3s or any vitamin supplement
for that matter is more useful to us in the long-term,
if we are in fact consuming it on a regular basis over the long-term.
It is important to consult your doctor before starting any supplement regimen,
particularly if you are already on other medications.
We've covered quite a bit of ground today. We started out with chemistry of all
things and how fatty acids are formed for saturated and unsaturated fats.
Then, we got a little refresher on why fat is important in our diet,
but the main takeaway I hope you got today with some practical tips and reasons
why you might consider enriching your diet with omega-3 fatty acids.
Again, this is Rebecca Mills with Utah State University extension
offering some wellness wisdom. Thanks for watching!
Now go out and make it a healthy day.