Supplementing With Essential Fatty
Acids
Since May is the National
Stroke Awareness month, we thought we would share the importance
of supplementing your diet with Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)
and how it can be a preventative measure against hypertension,
among other things.
EFAs are needed every second by most tissue activities in
the body including regulating pressure in the blood vessels,
dilating or constricting blood vessels and preventing blood
cells from clumping together (blood clots that can be a cause
of heart attack and stroke). Although EFAs are "essential"
to the body, they are not made by the body and must be supplied
through diet or supplementation. The daily amount required
by the body should be 10-20% of the total caloric intake.
There are two types of EFAs: omega-3 and omega-6. Omega-3
contains alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and eicosapentaenoic acid
(EPA) and is found in cold-water fish, fish oil and certain
unsaturated vegetable oils. Omega-6 contains linoleic acid
and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and is found in raw nuts, seeds,
legumes and unsaturated vegetable oils. The most important
and needed EFA is linoleic acid. It is also important to know
that EFAs need to be consumed in liquid oils (not heated,
processed, or cooked) or taken as a nutritional supplement.
EFAs improve the skin and hair, reduce blood pressure, aid
in the prevention of arthritis, lower cholesterol and triglyceride
levels as well as reduce the risk of blood clot formations.
It is estimated that 1 million Americans are disabled by peripheral
vascular disease (diseases involving the blood vessels in
the extremities) each year, according to the Prescription
for Nutritional Healing. As the person gets older, he
or she also increases the likelihood of developing atherosclerosis
of the coronary or cerebral arteries. It is also important
to consume, through diet or supplementation, antioxidants,
which scavenge free radicals that can accumulate in the body
from the environment; foods we eat as well as smoking and/or
second hand smoke, and cause arterial damage.
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