essential fatty acids

Fats are an important part of our diet, they are categorised into saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Fats are essential for as they aids the absorption and act as a carrier for fat-soluble vitamins and provides us with energy. It is recommended to eat them in small amounts and to choose unsaturated oils and spreads when possible (1,2). There is one exception which is trans fatty acids. These structurally are unsaturated fatty acids but behave like saturated fats and it is recommended to limit them in our diets (1).

Within unsaturated fats, are the polyunsaturated fatty acids (also known as PUFAs). Within this are omega-3, omega-6 and the less commonly spoken about omega-9. They are essential fatty acids, meaning we must include a small quantity of them as part of a balanced diet (3).

In this piece for Rhitrition, I dive into the evidence behind essential fatty acids with reference to research on their potential health benefits.

You can this full blog here: https://rhitrition.com/essential-fatty-acids/

References

(1) https://www.nutrition.org.uk/nutritionscience/nutrients-food-and-ingredients/fat.html

(2) https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/the-eatwell-guide/

(3) https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/different-fats-nutrition/