What’s the Difference Between Omega Fatty Acids: Omega-3, Omega-6, and Omega-9?

Omega, omega, oh my! What’s the difference between omega-3s, 6s, and 9s? How can these fatty acids benefit your health? How do you know you’re getting a good balance between them? Let’s discuss the differences between omega fatty acids. What are Omega-3 Fatty Acids?All foods with fat contain a mix of different fats, and some fats are more prevalent than others. Your body can’t make omega-3 fatty acids, so they’re deemed essential, and you have to obtain these polyunsaturated fats from foods with a lot of omega-3s. Polyunsaturated refers to the chemical structure. ‘Poly’ refers to many or more than one, and ‘unsaturated’ refers to double bonds. Omega-3 fatty acids have lots of double bonds. In the chemical structure, the position of the final double bond is three carbon atoms away from the tail end of the ‘omega’ of the molecular chain. This explains the name omega-3.The ratio of omega-3 fatty acids to omega-6s matters. Eating less omega-3 fatty acids compared with omega-6s could be involved with inflammation and chronic diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, […]…