If you’ve been reading for a while, you know I harp on inflammation a lot. I’ve mentioned inflammation coming from the immune system, your belly fat, and even your liver. Another source of inflammation that can cause your body to keep cycling in protection mode and away from growth and recovery are your levels and ratios of Omega fats.
We have all heard of Omega 3 being good for us. You will see commercials advertising Omega 3 supplements and I’m seeing more and more, medicine-first minded MDs even telling their patients to start taking fish oil.
Why are Omega 3 fats so good for you? Omega 3 fats are extremely important in the structure and function of every cell in the body. The function of your cells is what determines your health. Your cells are what determines your immune function, healing, hormone levels, heart function, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, digestion, moods etc. Literally, the function and health of your cells determines every aspect of your health.
Think of Omega 3s like your bouncer at your favorite club (your cell membrane). You want strong bouncers to keep the riff raff out of the club. If I showed up to be your bouncer, you would laugh, push me to the side, and the club would be in shambles. All hell would break loose and the club owner would have to spend a lot of time and money to repair all the damage (inflammation) that could have been prevented with bigger, stronger bouncers.
One of the problems is that when people jump on the Omega 3 bandwagon, they supplement with either an inferior type or not enough of the good type.
Club Troubles
Me being a bouncer at your club would be the inferior type of Omega 3. Most often, this comes in the form of flax seed or vegetable based omega 3s. There’s nothing wrong with them. They provide a type of omega 3 (Alpha-Linolenic Acid) but what the body requires and craves the most are omega 3s in the form of EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). EPA and DHA would be the 6’6″, 245 lbs bouncer that is also a blackbelt in all martial arts, a trained sniper, and expert hostage negotiator.
I could try and train to become those things and pack on the mass but it will be a lengthy process, not serve your immediate needs, and most likely not serve your long term needs. In other words, the body has the capability of converting ALA to EPA and DHA. The problem is that even though the body can do those things, there’s a limitation to the amount of how much EPA and DHA can be produced just from an ALA source alone.