Maintaining balance of omega-3, -6 fatty acids remains critical to long-term health
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AUSTIN, Texas —Maintaining the proper balance of dietary omega fatty acids is crucial for long-term health goals, according to a presenter at the 2023 Rheumatology Nurses Society annual conference.
“This is a technical talk,” Roxanne B. Sukol, MD, MS, an internal medicine physician at the Cleveland Clinic, told attendees. “I am saying that there is still so much that we don’t understand.”
Prior to the addition of omega-6 fatty acids and trans fats into processed foods, people typically consumed omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in a 1:1 ratio. However, as early as the beginning of the 20th century, the ratio changed to an estimated 15:1 to 20:1, according to Sukol.
“Because their ratio is what determines their overall effect, it is not the absolute amount they are eating,” she said. “Before the 20th century, virtually all human diets had a balanced amount of omega-3s and omega-6s.
“We were never meant to eat so many of them,” she added.
To combat the unnatural imbalance that followed the rising prevalence of omega-6 fatty acids in processed foods, Sukol said nurses and physicians can recommend a “mindful diet” for patients. For example, eating fish and leafy green vegetables is one step patients can take, she added.
“Number two, eat less manufactured calories,” Sukol said. “Notice that I call them ‘processed food items,’ because they are not really ‘food.’ They are fun, but they are not really nourishing us.”
Next, Sukol said patients should avoid all partially hydrogenated fats, while increasing consumption of healthy fats found in nuts, peanuts, avocados, seeds, fish and dark, leafy vegetables.
“To the extent possible — and this is a big ‘if’ — when eating animal protein, do your best to choose from stock that also eats a nourishing diet,” Sukol said.
Meanwhile, there is still more work to be done to improve the understanding of these compounds and the roles they play in rheumatic diseases.
“We don’t understand the whole story yet,” Sukol said. “And that is okay, but we cannot make choices like we do understand it.”
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Sukol RB. Drowning in Omega-6s: Why the food industry depends on them, how they are driving the epidemic of chronic illness. Presented at: Rheumatology Nurses Society annual conference; August 2-5, 2023 (hybrid meeting).
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