Health BENEFITS of Omega-6 Fats:
- necessary for the attack phase of the immune response
- supports healthy brain function
- important for normal growth and development
- necessary for skin and hair growth
- helps regulate the metabolism
- important for strong bones and teeth
- helps maintain the reproductive system
Foods HIGH in Omega-6 Fats:
Things to KNOW About Omega-6 Fats:
Omega-6s fats are essential fatty acids because your body isn’t able to make them on its own. Therefore, you must include omega-6-rich foods in your diet to provide you with these beneficial compounds.
Although your body proportionally requires a little more omega-6 fats than omega-3 fats in your diet (about a 4:1 ratio), most Americans are consuming 20 times more omega-6 fats than omega-3s! The biggest problem is that most of the omega-6 fats consumed are coming from poor-quality, highly-processed vegetable and seed oils, such as canola, corn, cottonseed, safflower, soybean, and sunflower oils.
These industrial oils are easily oxidized when exposed to heat and light and are already likely to be rancid, even before making their way to your kitchen cupboard or restaurant meal. When consumed, these oils cause free-radical damage and inflammation in the body. (Rancid fats produce rancid cells, which create a rancid body!)
Also, these damaged oils often come from genetically modified sources (GMOs), such as corn, canola, and soy—a double whammy! It’s best to choose natural, whole-food sources of omega-6 fats in your diet such as those listed above.