Essential fatty acid

From Freepedia

Essential fatty acids are fatty acids that are required in the human diet. This means they cannot be synthesized by the body from other fatty acids and must be obtained from food. They were originally designated as Vitamin F, until it was realized that they are best classified with the fats.

They were given the label "essential" when researchers found that removal of fatty acids from the diet harmed the normal growth of young children and animals.

In the body, essential fatty acids are modified to make the eicosanoids and the enodgenous cannabinoids.

Contents 1 Examples 2 Food sources 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

Examples

Essential fatty acids include:

• omega-3 fatty acids:
  • Linolenic acid (18:3)
  • EPA (20:5)
  • DHA (22:6)
• omega-6 fatty acids:
  • linoleic acid (18:2)
  • arachidonic (20:4)

Omega-9 fatty acids are not essential, because they can be synthesized from omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

Food sources

Some of the food sources of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are fish and shellfish, flaxseed (linseed), soya oil, canola (rapeseed) oil, hemp oil, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, leafy vegetables, and walnuts.

Essential fatty acids play a part in many metabolic processes, and there is evidence to suggest that low levels of essential fatty acids, or the wrong balance of types among the essential fatty acids, may be a factor in a number of illnesses.

See also

• Eicosanoid
  • Prostaglandin
  • Leukotriene
  • Thromboxane
• Cannabinoid
• Essential amino acids

References

• G.O. Burr and M.M. Burr (1930). "On the nature and role of the fatty acids essential in nutrition". J. Biol. Chem. 86:587
• A.E. Hansen et al (1963). "Role of linoleic acid in infant nutrition". Pediatrics 31:171

External links

• Fats You Need -- Essential Fatty Acids
• Waltonfeed
• USDA (public domain resource, and a source for this article)