What Are Omega 6 Fatty Acids? Everything You Should Know

Author's Bio: Marcie Vaske, MS, LN, CNS

What are Omega 6 Fatty Acids?

Today we're going to talk about everything you should know about them. Omega 6 fatty acids get a lot of buzz, but some of it is bad reputation. This nutrient Omega 6 fatty acids often gets a lot of buzz and some of it is giving it a bad reputation. So today I want to talk about the good, the bad, and maybe the ugly, but really are they so bad?

And I just quickly want to introduce myself. My name is Marcie Vaske. I'm a licensed nutritionist with Flusso Nutrients. And at Flusso Nutrients, we work really hard to educate you on different kinds of supplements and nutrients, so helping you make a decision if you truly need that supplement or can you get it through food and just giving you more of an education.

Now if you are taking medications or supplements, make sure that you talk to a supplement practitioner or someone who's literate in supplements to help you navigate through that. We don't want to have any contraindications with what you may be taking, but this is all for good information and just to help you keep learning.

[Video Transcript Below + Supplement Links Discussed In Video]

What Are Omega 6 Fatty Acids?

So what are Omega 6 Fatty Acids? They're actually polyunsaturated fatty acids. And what that means is that they're actually a good fat that your body needs that it can't make on its own. The most common form of omega 6 that you may hear about is linoleic acid, which is usually found in nuts and seeds.

So once it's in the body, linoleic acid is converted into fatty acids that are used for your gut health and your brain health, your immune system, and it does a lot of things. Therefore, it is very essential for our body.

Why Do Omega 6 Fatty Acids Get a Bad Reputation?

So we understand that omega 6s are essential to our health, but what makes them bad and how are they getting a bad reputation? So this is where it gets a little interesting because some omega sixes can actually be converted into compounds that increase inflammation.

Now of course some inflammation in the body is good, but when it's chronic or it's far too much inflammation, this is where we see a lot of problems. So the problem really isn't that omega sixes are bad, it's that the balance between our fatty acids get skewed.

The Importance of Omega 6 and Omega 3 Balance

And what I mean by that is that we have to have a balance between our omega six fatty acids and our omega fatty acids. And omega sixes can also be found in vegetable oils that are found in processed foods.

So many Americans are eating a sad diet, right? The standard American diet, which is filled with too many processed foods that have these damaged fats in them. So if we're consuming a lot of vegetable oils, we are getting far too many omega sixes versus not enough of our omega threes.

So if you're eating a balanced diet and you're incorporating nuts and seeds into your diet, that's where you're going to get those good linoleic acids or omega sixes. And if you're getting enough omega threes, you're going to find that in chia seeds, salmon, flax seeds, things of that nature.

What Is the Healthy Ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3?

And you're going to have a really healthy balance. However, as I said, if you're eating too many processed foods, that balance gets pretty skewed very quickly.

So you may be asking yourself, okay, well what is this balance? And the balance is four to one, so four omega sixes to one, Omega-3. But in reality, if you're eating a processed foods diet, your balance is closer to something like 20 to one. So 20 omega sixes to one Omega-3.

So you can see how omega sixes have gotten a bad wrap and create more inflammation because of that imbalance.

Healthy Sources of Omega 6 Fatty Acids

I've mentioned a couple foods that are higher in omega sixes, but there's also foods like poultry. Also whole food oils like safflower oil, sunflower oil, those are all going to be a healthy form of omega sixes, whereas those overprocessed sources of omega sixes like soybean oil, vegetable oil, corn oils, fried foods, packaged foods, all of those are going to have way much more omega sixes and not a healthy kind.

Should You Fear Omega 6 Fatty Acids?

So as I mentioned, fearing omega sixes isn't something we need to be doing, especially if you're eating the healthy forms and you're getting enough of the omega threes. So it's essentially just keeping that balance of four to one and not 20 to one.

So making sure that you're getting rid of processed packaged foods as much as possible and really leaning into eating a whole foods diet, enough proteins, those healthy carbohydrates, grains, seeds, and nuts, and all of those things are going to help keep that balance really well so that you're not creating more inflammation by having too many omega sixes.

Can You Be Deficient in Omega 6?

Now, if you're really deficient in omega sixes, which can happen, especially if this imbalance is happening, and I know if you're eating too many of processed packaged foods, you're going to have a high amount of inflammation in the body.

However, you can supplement with omega sixes, and that can help to bring a better balance of healthy omega six fatty acids, right? So it's that omega six that you'd find in nuts and seeds and poultry, safflower oil, sunflower oil.

The Role of Supplements for Omega 6 and Omega 3 Balance

So sometimes even if we're having a lot of processed packaged foods, because it's such an inflammatory response that we're getting, we need to increase our omega threes. So we can do supplementation for that, but best to do food, always to do nutrition first, and there's also omega sixes.

Now what happens is that sometimes we can't convert our omega sixes or our omega threes very well in our body. Sometimes we have a breakdown of an enzyme that actually helps to convert that, and this is where supplementation can come into play.

I'm going to link some supplement down below where if you are feeling that you need some healthier omega sixes as you're taking out those processed foods and changing your diet around, you can check it out.

Conclusion

And I hope that this video kind of give you a little bit more insight into omega sixes, omega threes, it gets confusing. People keep talking about how horrible omega sixes are, and yes, in some forms they're not going to be good for you 100%, but when you're sticking to a whole food diet, then there should be no concern.

So again, I hope this helped you. Thanks for watching today, and I will link that supplement down below and I'll see you next time. Thanks.

Check out the high-quality supplements we discussed in this video - links below for your convenience!

1) Omega Pure EPA-DHA 2400: https://flussonutrients.nutridyn.com/omega-pure-epa-dha-2400

2) ALL PROFESSIONAL QUALITY SUPPLEMENTS: https://flussonutrients.nutridyn.com & https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/flussonutrients