Omega fatty acids are one of my favorite topics, so I got a bit carried away, so we split the article into two parts.
Hop aboard sailer, the SS Minnow is setting sail to Omegaville.
What are omega-three fatty acids, and what do they do?
Omega-three fatty acids are called essential for a reason. They are as important and needed as your vitamins and minerals. Yet, for some reason, they are not treated as such. You may be checked for vitamin D, iron, or B12 deficiency at the doctor's office, but almost never for omega-three or your omega 3:6 ratio. In rare cases, it is tested, and often, the wrong test is given. However, you can get an at-home finger stick test to accurately determine your levels of omega-three, other fatty acids, and omega 3:6 ratio.
It is unfortunate that proper testing is not frequently done because the dangers of not getting enough omega-three and too much omega-6 have big implications for our current and future health.
Omega-three fatty acids have a lot of essential functions in your body:
They are vital to the cell structure in every cell wall in your body.
Your eyes and brain need plenty of them to function correctly.
They are a source of energy that helps to keep your heart, lungs, blood vessels, and immune system functioning correctly.
They are needed to produce resolvins, a compound that helps resolve inflammatory issues that arise in the body.
They help to reduce platelet stickiness, which reduces the risk of blood clots.
They help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
They help to improve blood flow.
They help to reduce stiffness in the joints.
Supports healthy red blood cells.
They help to reduce triglyceride levels.
They help to reduce oxidized cholesterol.
They help to improve arterial flexibility.
And much, much more!
Considering their importance, it may shock you that almost no one is getting enough omega-3s in their diet; the vast majority of the population is incredibly deficient and consuming far too much omega-6. This issue does not get nearly the attention it deserves.
How to Correct the omega-three and Six Ratio
The first step is to reduce your intake of omega-6 (linoleic acid). The more omega-six you eat, the more omega-three you need to balance it out. Before anyone gets out the pitchforks, yes, you do need some omega-six, but people are getting way too much.
Too much omega-six, which leads to a poor omega-six to omega-3 ratio, contributes to a host of health issues:
Increased oxidized LDL cholesterol - the actual "bad" cholesterol.
And a lot more.
Too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3 make our health worse in almost every way. Reducing your omega-6 intake is just as important as increasing your omega-3 intake. It is a balanced ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 that is most important, not getting a specific amount of omega-3. Your omega 3:6 ratio should be between 1:3 or 1:5.
As with all things, balance is key.
How to reduce omega-six in your diet
Nearly everyone eats far too omega-6, that’s right, even you. It’s hard to avoid because it’s in so many foods. The good news is that a few simple changes can quickly and dramatically reduce your intake.
First, eliminate vegetable and seed oils—yes, even the ones from the health food store—from your diet. These are by far the largest sources of omega-6.
Here is a list of vegetable and seed oils:
Sunflower Oil
Grapeseed Oil
Safflower Oil
Canola oil (More like con-ola, am I right? I'll see myself out.)
Rapeseed Oil
Soybean Oil
Corn Oil
Cottonseed Oil
Flax Oil
Having a bit of ground flax seeds is fine; it's the oil you want to avoid.
Hemp Oil
Having a big of hemp seeds is fine; it's the oil you want to avoid.
Chia Oil
Having a bit of chia seeds is fine; it's the oil you want to avoid.
Peanut Oil
Fake butter spreads - Yes, even from the health food store. We have never found a low omega-six spread. If you know of one, please let us know.
Margarine
Shortening
While palm oil may not be high in omega-6, it is one of the worst foods from an environmental standpoint, and massive amounts of slavery and suffering are involved in its production, so we recommend avoiding it.
They are also found in most ultra-processed foods, such as chips, cookies, and crackers. So read the ingredients carefully and ensure none of these oils are present.
Some omega-6 fats are beneficial, such as GLA (found in evening primrose oil and borage oil) and CLA, but they occur in very small amounts and are very different from linoleic acid. They are not the problem.
Vegetable and seed oils are some of the worst foods you can eat. In the future, they will be considered like trans-fats today. Eliminating them is one of the best things you can do for your health.
Fats to use instead of omega-six-rich vegetable and seed oils
What should you use instead?
For salad dressings and finishing foods, some good extra virgin olive oil is always a great choice. There is one caveat, though: Most olive oil is adulterated with seed oils, oxidized, or low in polyphenols. It is important to get the real thing so you are not adding more omega-6 to your diet. If you want to learn more about this, check out this book.
You can see our favorite olive oil here, and check out our free shopping guide for more great sources.
For baking, grass-fed butter is always great.
For day to day cooking, NXGEN Wholefoods grass-fed beef tallow, made from regenerative suet, is our favorite.
Grass-fed ghee is an excellent choice for high-heat cooking.
Coconut oil is an excellent choice for stir-fries. Make sure you are getting ethically sourced coconut oil, as much of it is produced using slave labor. Check out our free shopping guide, for sources of ethically produced coconut oil.
The next step on our journey to reducing omega-6 is to replace your grain-fed meat, dairy, and eggs with grass-fed and pastured versions. Grass-fed meat has higher levels of omega-3 and lower levels of omega-6. Eatwild.com is a great website for finding grass-fed meat, eggs, and dairy products near you.
Now that we have decreased the omega-six in our diet, it’s time to get more omega-three.
How to get more omega-three in your diet
According to every major medical and scientific organization, whole foods are the best way to get your omega-three.
Wild-caught fish and shellfish are the best sources of omega-3. With pollution in the oceans and the rapid depletion of fish stocks, many people are rightfully concerned about making sure their seafood is sustainable and clean. So, we wanted to share some great places to get seafood that is environmentally friendly and free of high levels of contaminants.
Don’t sleep on canned fish. Canned sardines with the skin and bones are a great source of omega-three and calcium. They are incredibly affordable and sustainable. Just make sure they are not packed in vegetable oil. Canned salmon is often overlooked. It is rich in omega-three, vitamin D, and if you get the kind with the bones, lots of very absorbable calcium. It makes a great substitute for canned tuna.
While they are not well known, tinned cod livers are a great way to get omega-3 fatty acids. They have a smooth, creamy taste and also have lots of vitamins A and D. Think of them as a poor man's foie gras.
One of our favorite omega-3 foods is fish roe. It is delicious, easy to prepare, and packed full of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin K2 (as MK-4), choline, and so much more. Fish roe is an amazing and underutilized food. Check out our blog article to learn more.
Many people rightfully have concerns about mercury in fish. Check out the NRDC wallet card to choose fish with low mercury risk.
What about farmed fish? We recommend avoiding farmed fish for a variety of reasons.
Higher in omega-6 and lower in omega-3 than wild-caught fish.
Fish are often treated with antibiotics because of the poor conditions in which they are raised. Just like we don’t want our meat pumped full of antibiotics, we don't want our fish given lots of them, which increases the problem of antibiotic resistance.
Farmed salmon tend to be higher in PCBs and dioxins than wild salmon.
Farmed fish tend to be lower in protein than wild fish.
It is not more sustainable. It takes several pounds of wild small fish to make one pound of farmed salmon because the fish chow the salmon are fed is partly made of small wild fish.
Don't worry if seafood isn't for you; there are many other great foods rich in omega-3.
Pastured eggs are a great source of omega-3. They are rich in other beneficial nutrients like vitamin D, vitamin E, choline, and so much more. Your local farmer is the best source of these eggs. Check Eatwild.com to find a source near you, or look for some chickens running around. If you don’t have one near you, this scorecard is a great way to help you choose the right eggs.
100% Grass-fed and grass-finished meat is a good source of omega-3. If you replace the grain-fed meat in your diet with it, not only will you be increasing your omega-three intake, but you will be decreasing your omega-6 intake! Eatwild.com is a great resource to find a local farmer near you. If you don’t have one near you, check out our free shopping guide for sources.
We recommend swapping turkey, pork, and chicken for red meat like buffalo, bison, elk, venison, beef, lamb, mutton, and goat because they have far less omega-6 and more nutrition.
Are flax, hemp, and chia seeds good sources of omega-three?
Now, you might be wondering, "Why have I not included any plant foods on the omega-3 foods list?"
Many plant foods contain a fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). This is a precursor to the omega-three fatty acids our bodies need, such as EPA/DHA. Our bodies are not great at the conversion process, so only a very small amount of the ALA is converted. In addition, the already low conversion rate is reduced much further in a diet rich in omega-6, which nearly everyone has. So, they are not a good source of omega-3.
However, the biggest reason we do not recommend plant oils such as flax, hemp, and chia as a source of omega-3 is that they contain huge amounts of omega-6. For a very small amount of omega-3, you will be getting huge amounts of additional omega-6, which you do not need. So, skip the flax oil.
Hopefully, this post has inspired you to reduce your omega-6 intake and eliminate those nasty vegetable and seed oils!
What about omega-three supplements?
Head over to part two to learn all about omega-three supplements.