<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
An extremely good reference (with which I have absolutely no finiancial
connection whatsoever) on essential fatty acids is  "Fats that Heal, Fats
that Kill"   by Udo Erasmus,   Alive books  7436 Fraser Park Drive, BUrnaby
BC Canada  V5J5B9
ISBN 0-920470-40-8 bound   ISBN 0-920470-38-6 (pbk)
 
This book has virtually anything you might want to know about essential
fatty acids.
 
The EFA's are one of the most systematiclly neglected aspects of nutrition
in the US today.   (Probably because they are so systematically removed by
the food processing industry (because they limit shelf life).   I suspect
that the reason Americans have such a strong craving for fats is that our
appetite mechanism has not evolved to distinguish Essential fatty acids
from fats in general.  Throughout our evolution, most sources of fats were
high in essential fatty acids because 1)  they were consumed FRESH  (EFA's
degrade very quickly (that's why they limit shelf life)) and 2) animals
that were free (not penned in so they could not get adquate exercise and
not feed an unnatural high-carbohydrate diet (grains, etc))  had a MUCH
lower ration of saturated fats to essential fatty acids.    Thus there was
no evolutionary need to distinguish between EFA's and fats in general -
they were generally together.
 
BUT in our current culture, unless you are very knowledgeable and carefully
select what fats you eat, merely eating more fat will not help a
defficiency of EFA's very much at all  (and could conceiveably even worsen
it by diluting what EFA's you have in a sea of saturated fats).
 
It has been my personal experience that, when your EFA requirements are
adequately supplied the typical ravenous craving for fatty foods
disappears.     Olestra has got to be the ultimate expression of American
decadence!