What You Need to Know About Omega-3 Fatty Acids & COVID-19

If you are a regular reader of pH Labs blogs, you know that I firmly believe that nutritional balance and getting an adequate intake of essential nutrients, such as fats, vitamins and minerals, are absolutely key to our overall health and wellbeing. Nutrients are so vital that the difference between having enough of them or a lack of them can be a matter of life or death in some cases, and the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be exposing this truth.

5 reasons you need the health benefits of omega 3s

We hear a lot about healthy fats and how good they are for our bodies. In fact, they’re a mainstay of the praised Mediterranean diet, with staples like olive oil, whole grains and avocado. One of the reasons the Mediterranean diet is often recommended is due to the healthy omega-3 and omega-6 ratio, with more omega-3s in the diet than omega-6s. The typical Western diet gets plenty of omega-6s, but not enough omega-3s, and this can cause inflammation and disease.

Omega-3s: What’s the difference between DHA and EPA?

Omega-3 fatty acids are known for their brain and heart health benefits, but then you see terms like DHA and EPA thrown around in the same sentence. These types of omega-3s each serve unique functions. So what is the difference between DHA and EPA?

What is oleic acid and how much do you need?

Most people are familiar with the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, but what is oleic acid, and why is it important? Oleic acid is a naturally occurring, odorless, colorless oil. Oleic acid is found in flaxseed oil, borage (a Mediterranean herb) oil, evening primrose oil, olive oil (less in virgin olive oil), pecan oil, canola oil, peanut oil, macadamia oil, sunflower oil, grape seed oil, sea buckthorn oil and sesame oil. You can also find it in animal fat. Oleic acid at appropriate levels has been implicated in cancer prevention in some (but not all studies), and reduces cholesterol levels.

3, 6, 9: What are the different omega fatty acids?

Essential fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6) are indeed essential for your health, but they cannot be produced in the body, so you need to get them from foods or supplements. Ideally, your diet would have a healthy balance of both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, but the modern American diet tends to be richer in omega-6. Unless you are following a Mediterranean diet, you could probably use some more omega-3! Let’s take a look at what the different “omegas” do.