Thread: Omega three
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  #4  
Old February 16th, 2005, 09:33 PM
Doug Freyburger
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Violet Frank wrote:

I suddenly feel like everywhere I turn people are encouraging me to

eat
more Omega three. Not to be ignorant, but isn't that the thing they
needed to activate on the movie Galaxy Quest that jumps time back 13
seconds?


Fatty acid types are measured by how long they are and by
how many double bonds they have. Double bonds have more
flex, so fat with more of them melts quicker.

Saturated fat - no double bonds. The human body can burn,
store and create them as well as convert lengths. Thus,
saturated fats are not "essential" for life. Some is
needed for loss.

Monounsaturated fat - one double bonds. Most common in
olive oil but all natural fats have some of every type.
The human body can burn, cannot store and canot create
them. This is why they are good on fat loss plans - the
number of calories eaten is poorly correlated with the
number of calories that could be stored.

Polyunsaturated fat - more than one double bond. The
omega number is how many carbons from the end to get to
the first flexible double bond. Omega means end because
it is last in the Greek alphabet.

Transfat - crossover bonds. Bad stuff. Naturally
present in same quantities. Unnatually present in
large quantities in shortening, margarine and such. Many
companies are now reformulated to remove it and that is a
good move.

So the different omega numbers are different classes of
polyunsaturated fats. The body can convert lengths but
can not convert among classes. There's some need for
omega-9 and now amount of omega-3 helps, and vice versa.

But seriously, I know sardines are high in Omega three, but
yuck! Can't deal with it. Also olives. That sounds good.


Tuna, salmon, herring and to a lesser extent any fish
followed by any land meat. In plants canola, evening
primrose and leafy veggies.

But what are the supposed benefits of Omega three ...


Because it's essential life can't happen without some.
But when it comes to balance between the ones in the
omega-9 class and the ones in omega-3 class I dunno.