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Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are fatty acids that are required by humans and other animals for normal physiological function that cannot be synthesized in the body. [1] [2] As they are not synthesized in the body, the essential fatty acids – alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid – must be obtained from food or from a dietary supplement.
The diet provided will determine the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids consumed; the optimal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids is considered to be within the range of 5:1 to 10:1. [87] The right ratio helps reduce inflammation and mediate immune responses, as both types of fatty acid use the same enzymes in their metabolic journey.
Mammals are unable to synthesize omega−3 fatty acids, but can obtain the shorter-chain omega−3 fatty acid ALA (18 carbons and 3 double bonds) through diet and use it to form the more important long-chain omega−3 fatty acids, EPA (20 carbons and 5 double bonds) and then from EPA, the most crucial, DHA (22 carbons and 6 double bonds). [2]
Octadecanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 16 COOH C18:0 Nonadecylic acid: Nonadecanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 17 COOH C19:0 Arachidic acid: Icosanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 18 COOH C20:0 Heneicosylic acid: Heneicosanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 19 COOH C21:0 Behenic acid: Docosanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 20 COOH C22:0 Tricosylic acid: Tricosanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 21 COOH C23:0 ...
Furthermore, depending on the location of the double-bond in the fatty acid chain, unsaturated fatty acids are classified as omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids. Trans fats are a type of unsaturated fat with trans -isomer bonds; these are rare in nature and in foods from natural sources; they are typically created in an industrial process called ...
The Burrs coined the phrase "essential fatty acids". [14] Since then, researchers have shown a growing interest in unsaturated essential fatty acids as they form the framework for the organism's cell membranes. [15] Subsequently, awareness of the health benefits of essential fatty acids has dramatically increased since the 1980s. [16]
Cervonic acid (or docosahexaenoic acid) has 22 carbons, is found in fish oil, is a 4,7,10,13,16,19-hexa unsaturated fatty acid. In the human body its generation depends on consumption of omega 3 essential fatty acids (e.g., ALA or EPA), but the conversion process is inefficient. [ 22 ]
The proportion of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids in a diet may have metabolic consequences. [2] Unlike omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids, omega-9 fatty acids are not classed as essential fatty acids because they can be created by the human body from monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids, and are therefore not essential in the diet.