A Good Health Guide by Safe Remedies, the Natural Remedies Clinic
and the Chiron Clinic London

ESSENTIAL - FATTY - ACIDS

The 'free' form of fat. Fatty acids circulate in the bloodstream for uptake by the liver and muscles for conversion into energy.

Fatty Acids are essential for our cells to operate normally and stay alive.

Passage of necessary minerals and molecules are regulated by cell membranes. When your cell membranes are healthy they stop harmful chemicals parasites, builds, viruses and other dangerous organisms like bacteria frown entering into the cell.

Chemicals receptor sites for hormones are also maintained in the cells. Hormones are the bodies crucial messengers. Fatty Acids are part of numerous chemical processes in the body and are used as building blocks for certain hormones, Omega-3 and Omega-6 are two kinds of Fatty Acids that cannot be made by the body and therefore have to be obtained through our diet.

These are called 'Essential Fatty Acids' and if they are present the other fatty acids the body needs can be manufactured by the body. By adding these two essential Fatty Acids to a diet many people have claimed it helped them with arthritis, cancer, depression, Candida dry skin fatigue, heart diseases PMS psoriasis diabetes, allergies, viral infections, etc.

Prime Directive contains both these important fats.

The main components of all fats are the fatty acids which might be saturated, monounsaturated or polyunsaturated.

Fats containing a high proportion of saturated fatty acids are solid at room temperature. These are commonly known as saturated fats and are usually derived from animal sources e.g. lard, suet and butter.

Most plant fats are high in either polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats except palm and coconut fat which is highly saturated. Saturated and monounsaturated fats are not necessary in the diet as they can be made in the human body.

Two polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) that cannot be made in the body are linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid. They must be provided by diet and are known as essential fatty acids. Within the body both can be converted to other PUFAs such as arachidonic acid, or eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

In the body PUFAs are important for maintaining the membranes of all cells; for making prostaglandins which regulate many body processes which include inflammation and blood clotting. Another requirement for fat in the diet is to enable the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K to be absorbed from food; and for regulating body cholesterol metabolism.

EPA's and DHA's Alpha-linolenic Acid is converted in the body to EPA (eiocosapentaenoic acid) usually found in marine oil and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) usually found in marine fish oil.

Many factors affect the rate of conversion and one factor seems to be a high food intake of linoleic acid which is typical of vegan diets and may suppress the body's ability to convert alpha-linolenic acid to DHA.

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