The importance of the right balance of omega-6 and -3 for better health

In today’s modern world, we eat differently than we did in the early 1900s. Fast food wasn’t on the menu, nor were highly processed products high in salt, sugar, and Omega-6.

But even if you cook your own food, the ingredients are unfortunately not of the same quality anymore. Meat tends to come mainly from animals being fed inside a barn with animal feed instead of eating grass in the open fields and fish like salmon are farmed in closed basins and fed with fishmeal and antibiotics instead eating algae in the deep seas. This has a huge impact on the nutritional values in the food and thus in our cells, tissues and our bodies.

In order to fight the rising obesity rates, our diets need to include more omega-3 fatty acids and fewer omega-6s. A better balance of omega-3 and -6 in the diet is a more effective way of improving healthy body weight than current nutrition policies, which focus on calories and energy expenditure and have "failed miserably over the past 30 years," say Dr. Artemis Simopoulos of the Center for Genetics, Nutrition, and Health, Washington DC, and Dr. James DiNicolantonio of Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute, Kansas.

But fighting the rising obesity rates is not the only reason to strive for a better balance between your Omega 6:3 levels.

The imbalance in omega 6:3 fatty acids is responsible for cold or silent inflammation in our body, which is the root cause of degenerative diseases and aging.

Omega 6 works inflammatory whereas omega 3 works anti-inflammatory in our body. The  ideal ratio is 3:1 but results show us that 95-97% of the world population is out of balance.

The average ratio’s we see today are 15:1 to more than 40:1, so, completely out of balance.

In general, the classic Mediterranean diet is rich in fruit, vegetables, fish, omega-3 and whole grain cereals, but technological advances and modern farming methods have changed the omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio in the typical Western diet.

Recent years have seen an increased production of vegetable oils high in omega-6, such as sunflower, safflower and corn oils, and animal feeds changing from omega-3-rich grass to grain, resulting in high levels of omega-6 in the meat, eggs and dairy in the food supply for the first time in the history of human beings.

The thousands of products we find in the supermarkets are refined, ultra-processed and full of sugars and plant based omega6 oils. They are responsible for this pandemic of inflammation. Therefore, try to avoid these refined and processed products as much as possible.

Eat fresh, organic, unprocessed and seasonal food.  These fruits and vegetables contain more vitamins and minerals to keep your body in optimal condition.

To lower levels of omega-6, reduce the use of vegetable oils such as corn oil, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed and soya bean oil and increase the use of oils rich in omega-3, including flaxseed oil, canola oil, perilla oil, walnut oil and chia oil.

Increase your intake of omega 3 by consuming more small fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines and herring (SMASH) and seafood which are all high in omega-3.

If you do still want to eat meat and dairy look for grass-fed produce and try switching to organic milk (preferably from goat and sheep) and meat, which contain about 50 percent more omega-3 fatty acids than conventionally produced equivalents.

Nuts, especially walnuts, and seeds are also good sources, and although not as rich as other sources omega-3 can also be found in dark green vegetables such as spinach, kale, Brussels sprouts and watercress.

Omega-3 supplements

Even if you have a good diet, as explained earlier, you still have to add omega-3 supplements to your daily diet. Why? Because plant origin Omega-3 is poorly converted to EPA and DHA, the most important omega-3 fatty acids.

EPA is crucial for an optimal function of all cell membranes in your body. One can ask the following question: How can you restore your organs if you miss the base?

To be able to concentrate and communicate in an optimal way, you need DHA. It is crucial for the structure of your brain’s cell membrane.

99% of the Omega-3 supplements do not work because they lack polyphenols.

Omega-3 is very fragile and sensitive to light, heat and oxidation. With most Omega-3 supplements the oxidation of the poly-unsaturated fatty acid already starts at 36-37° in your esophagus. You need polyphenols to stop this oxidation.

Once the Omega-3 has been absorbed from the gut into your bloodstream, it has to be absorbed by the cell membrane as well. In order to have the absorption at this level, you need a chaperone molecule which is the polyphenol.

Without these polyphenols there won’t be any absorption into the cell membrane, the area where it needs to have its pharmacological effect.

Only a few Omega-3 supplements in the market have these necessary polyphenols. One of them is Balance Oil, a Swedish product. It is very highly concentrated in EPA and DHA and the dosage can be adjusted according to your weight. It contains Vit D3 and Vit E, a very strong anti-oxidant. This product is 100% effective and safe.

Testing your Omega-6/3 Balance

Knowing what your Omega-6/3 Balance in your body looks like is a good start! Nowadays you can easily do a self-test at home. I did my balance test recently with a test kit from a Norwegian lab. How were my results? Well, I will only tell you that I used to be convinced I had a very healthy lifestyle…. I am now taking Omega-3 Balance Oil and I am very curious how my next results will be (4 months after my first test).

In his latest article (January 13, 2021) on the Omega 6:3 balance, Dr Paul Clayton explains why most Omega 3 supplements hardly do any good to human bodies. I strongly recommend you to read his article.