Essential fatty acids are those your body cannot make- you've got to get
them from food. The 2 groups are
W-3 are Omega-3 (sometimes called N-3) and tend to be anti-inflammatory.
W-6 tend to be pro-inflammatory.
I use a little rhyme- three is the key, six make you sick- to remember them.

W-3's:
1. Gamma-linolenic acid= G-LNA good lovely nice acid. From walnuts,
flax-seed oil
2. DHA from fish
3. EPA from fish

W-6's are high in seed oils eg safflower, sunflower etc, so the Western
intake has gone up a lot since the 1950's. eg linoeic acid (confusing as it
is so close to linolenic in spelling- bloody scientists are so vague).

The important thing is the ratio of W3/W6- the higher the better. (Sometimes
people talk about w6/w3- the lower the better).

Now the Standard Western Diet is too low in W3, too high in W6- therefore
pro-inflammatory.

Paleo is of course high in W3 low in W6- just another example of
paleoperfection in action.

Grain fed meat is high in fats and has a low W3/W6  ratio which is another
reason why pasture fed beef is preferable. It also shows you that grains are
just as bad for cows as they are for us.

Hope you like that

Ben Balzer


Notice how I didn't say SAD which is the acronym for Standard American Diet
as firstly I'd like to keep bitching about acronym overuse and secondly it's
so parochial- this list covers the world.
-----
> I don:t understand W3's.  Sounds like some nasty IRS form!
>
> Explanation requested.
>
> Thank you
> Judith
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> [[The w-3 fat shortages in common diets, and the imbalances in
> hormone levels which probably arises from it,may play an important role.
> This is my impression, for many problems including MS and nerves
> skin problems, arteries (as in omega-plan described).
>
> But the cause is not meat. It's from the more natural food composition.
> Insufficient w-3 fats *won't* be cured by increasing meat.
> Increasing w-3 will be necessary.]]