Essential Fatty Acids -- The Key To Health, Part II

Balancing EFAs and Anti-Oxidants.
Because EFAs are polyunsaturated, containing two or more double chemical bonds, they are prone to rancidity, not merely in foods but also in the human body. Rancidity occurs when the double bond is broken by oxygen, producing an oxidized fatty acid. Oxidized fatty acids not only taste badly, they behave badly, disrupting the normal functioning of the cell membranes of which they are a part. Oxidized fatty acids are rapidly generated from the process called free radical-induced cell damage.

To protect EFAs from harmful oxidation, it is essential to consume adequate levels of dietary anti-oxidants, especially vitamin E. Consumption of a nutrient-dense diet will assure a higher-than-average intake of all anti-oxidants. Depend-ing upon the specific foods chosen, however, where those foods have been grown, the efficiency of digestion and absorption, the need for EFA supplementation, and the pres-ence of inflammation within the body, supplementation of the diet with additional anti-oxidants may be necessary. For people who supplement their diets with fish oils or flax oil, a minimum anti-oxidant supple-ment should include vitamin E (four hundred units per day), selenium (one hundred micrograms per day), and vitamin C (one thousand milli-grams per day), in addition to--not instead of--a nutrient-dense diet.

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