Have you ever wondered why Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s) are important, and, what is the difference between 3, 6, and 9. Do we need them all? I take EFA’s everyday and so I decided to do some research and here is what I found.
Yes, our bodies do need Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s) everyday.
EFA’s support both our cardiovascular system and brain health, along with being important for the liver, hormonal support, immune functionand keeping our skin healthy and youthful.
The three EFA’s are Omega 3, 6 and 9. Omegas 3 and 6 are essential because our body cannot make them. For this reason we need to get these two nutrients from our food or through a good quality EFA supplement. All three Omegas are very different to each other and do different things in the body. I will just break them down.
Omega 3
It is found in fish and plants and most nuts, mainly walnuts. Omega 3’s are Polyunsaturated fatty acids. The benefits of Omega 3’s are:
May Fight Depression and Anxiety
Supports Eye Health
Supports and Protects the myelin sheath of our brain
Supports and Promotes Brain Health During Pregnancy and Early Life
May Improve Risk Factors for Heart Disease
Helps with libido
Improves skin conditions
ALA, EPA and DHA are also Omega 3’s, which additionally play an important role in the human body as follows:
ALA ( Alpha-lipoic acid). ALA is quite complex to talk about, so in simple language, ALA serves vital functions at a cellular level, such as supporting energy production. It provides antioxidant protection and support for other tissue in the body. Humans can only produce a small amount of ALA, so we need to look to supplementation to get the rest of it. ALA is particularly needed for digestion. Without ALA we will start to feel tired all the time and have no energy.
EPA ( eicosapentaenoic acid). This is found in the brain and the wall of every cell in the body. EPA is very important for the proper development of the foetus while developing in the mother. EPA is also anti-inflammatory.
DHA ( docosahexaenoic acid). It is the primary component of the brain and found in the skin, eyes and even men’s testicles.
Omega 6
It is found in meats and vegetable oils like Palm Oil, Flax Oil, Sunflower Oil and Soybean Oil, but Olive Oil funnily enough has very little. Omega 6’s are responsible for making prostaglandins, which are tiny hormones along with being support for the heart and assisting in muscle repair after exercise.
Unfortunately,the modern diet,which does contain Omega 6’s are also filled with bad oils, for example corn, safflower, sunflower,grape seed, soy, peanut, and vegetable; mayonnaise; and many salad dressings. These oils are in just about everything from fried foods, breads to shelf life products. Which is why Omega 6’s can be both inflammatory and anti-inflammatory. We need to start looking at what oils are in the foods we are eating and start consuming more of the good foods with Omega 6, like Avocados, eggs, nuts (especially walnuts), have butter not margarine and good quality organic meat, just to name a few.
The normal ratio between Omega 3 and Omega 6 is 1/1. But, as we tend to eat more food with Omega 6, it is recommended to improve the ratio of Omega-3 fats to Omega-6 fats and eat more omega-3s, not fewer omega-6s. It is all about the balance.
Omega 9
It is found in Oleic (in butter), olive oil and sunflower oil. Our body can make Omega 9, but we still need it in small amounts. The body needs this EFA for heart health and blood sugar health. The research I found onomega-9 fatty acids have been shown to increase HDL (“good”) cholesterol and decrease LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, plus they help eliminate plaque build- up in the arteries, which causes heart attack and stroke.
Here is a diagram I found which shows percentage of Omega’s in each oil.
Symptoms of Essential Fatty Acid deficiency
dry skin
Allergies
diabetes
Atherosclerosis
Hypertension
Psoriasis
Eczema
Infertility
immune and autoimmune disease
menstrual issues
mental disorders
Another point to consider if you do cook with oil, (including coconut oil), is to make sure it from a good quality source. Oils are very sensitive to light and can oxidize very quickly, which results in free radicals. That is why it is important when buying oils in a bottle that it is a dark bottle that is protected from the light. The moment you take the lid off it is subject to oxidation. Oxygen mixed with oil causes the free radicals.
Same goes for Essential Fatty Acids. Capsules are a better way to take these nutrients. Some brands contain oxygen inside the capsule, while other brands may have nitrogen inside. Replacing oxygen with nitrogen increases the stability of fish oil and limits oxidation. It is also important that the EFA’s you are taking have been checked for the presence of heavy metals, PCBs, dioxins, furans, and other contaminants. So something else to consider when purchasing your Essential Fatty Acids.
Take home message – yes EFA’s are very important to our health, our brain and our immune system. Anything that supports and protects our brain, needs to be taken, don’t you think? We should be taking EFA’s everyday.
At 90 for Life Australia we take our EFA’s seriously. Our EFA’s are made from good quality sources and in accordance with the IFOS – INTERNATIONAL FISH OIL STANDARDS. All our 90 For Life Packs include our EFA Plus. See for yourself. Have a lovely week everyone.
The immune system is one of my favourite parts of the human body. I did some research on the immune system and the importance of keeping it healthy. Wow, what a complicated system. I am not going too much into detail, as you will be reading this blog for the next week, so I have just skimmed and made it sound more simple. So, here is what the research showed me.
The immune System
The immune system is the body’s natural defense system. You have a lot of “systems” operating your body, but one of the most complex system is your immune system.
What are the main parts to your immune system?
white blood cells
antibodies
complement system
lymphatic system
spleen
bone marrow
thymus.
What are some signs of a weak immune system?
autoimmune disorders.
frequently getting a cold or flu
feeling tired and run down all the time
allergies, skin disorders
blood disorders or abnormalities, such as anaemia.
digestive issues, including loss of appetite, diarrhoea, and abdominal cramping.
What is your immune system’s job?
It is your immune system’s job to protect you from the bad guys like flu, colds, viruses, bacterial infections, fevers, disease and nasty pathogens, just to name a few. Also, your energy and endurance levels, and quality of life can be directly influenced by your immune system.
When these bad guys find their way into your body, it is the immune system’s response to gang up on it and fight it – so it produces antibodies to attack whatever bad guy is invading your body.
For your immune system to fight these bad guys, you need to keep your immune system in top condition by feeding it proper nutrition. The older you get the more your immune system can be at risk. One reason being, the nutrients are not getting replaced when your body sweats out as you go about your day or do any type of exercise. Over the years that can take a toll on your body and your immune system.
What can you do to support your immune system
You should be eating plenty of the good food and very little if none at all, of the bad food. Good food includes plenty of vegetables and fruits, especially those very high in antioxidants. Unfortunately fruits and vegetables do not contain all the nutrients that are required by your immune system as they are not all present in the soil, mainly minerals.
Your immune system is made of protein – so you need to eat protein, and less sugar. You do need some sugar as your DNA is made from sugar but you just need to consume less and when you do have sugar it should be natural sugars from fruits etc. Viruses, flus and colds can breed in a high sugar environment, which can end up suppressing your immune system. Having chicken soup when you feel sick, especially with flu and cold, is a great idea – home made chicken soup is best, if you like making soups, and very yummy.
Some people do not eat enough fruits or vegetables anyway, so the only other way you have to get those important nutrients into your body is to feed the immune system with a good quality vitamin and mineral supplement.
I have learned over the last 18 years that you need to give your body 90 essential nutrients everyday to live a long and healthy life and keep up the lifestyle we have all grown accustomed to. You will be amazed what your body and immune system will do, once you give it what it needs.
Exercise is also good for your immune system – gets the lymphatic system moving, which gets the blood flowing. Walking 30 minutes a day is great, and as I said above, if you are sweating out nutrients with exercise, you need to be putting those nutrients back into your body.
Conclusion
The truth is, we all want to grow old gracefully and extend out our life. So make the commitment by looking after your immune system and it will look after you so you can live a healthy life well into your 80s and 90s.
A balanced and healthy immune system is important to fight against infections, so anything you can do to strengthen and support your immune system will help to assure your well being.
So, if you are interested in starting your journey of good health and supporting your immune system, the best way possible, with the 90 for Life nutrients, please reach out to me.
Also, If you would like a free health evaluation checklist sent to you, please contact me with your email or phone number.
The immune system is one of my favourite parts of the human body, and needs to be kept healthy. I did some research on the immune system and the importance of keeping it healthy. Wow, what a complicated system. I am not going too much into detail, as you will be reading this blog for the next week, so I have just skimmed and made it sound more simple. So, here is what the research showed me.
What isthe Immune System
The immune system is the body’s natural defense system. We have a lot of “systems” operating our body, but one of the most complex system is our immune system.
What are the main parts to our immune system?
white blood cells
antibodies
complement system
lymphatic system
spleen
bone marrow
thymus.
What are some signs of a weak immune system?
autoimmune disorders.
frequently getting a cold or flu
feeling tired and run down all the time
allergies, skin disorders
blood disorders or abnormalities, such as anaemia.
digestive issues, including loss of appetite, diarrhoea, and abdominal cramping.
What does our immune system do for us
It is our immune system’s job to protect us from the bad guys like flu, colds, viruses, bacterial infections, fevers, disease and nasty pathogens, just to name a few. Also, our energy and endurance levels, and quality of life can be directly influenced by our immune system.
When these bad guys find their way into our body, it is the immune system’s response to gang up on it and fight it – so it produces antibodies to attack whatever bad guy is invading your body.
For our immune system to fight these bad guys, we need to keep our immune system in top condition by feeding it proper nutrition. The older we get the more our immune system can be at risk. One reason being, we are not replacing the nutrients that our body sweats out as we go about our day or do any type of exercise. Over the years that can take a toll on our body and our immune system.
What can we do to keep our immune system in top shape
We should be eating plenty of the goods foods, and, very little if none at all, of the bad foods. Good foods include plenty of vegetables and fruits, especially foods high in antioxidants. Unfortunately our food does not contain all the nutrients that are required by our immune system as they are not all present in our soil, especially minerals.
Your immune system is made of protein – so you need to eat
protein, and less sugar. You do need some sugar as your DNA is made from sugar
but you just need to consume less and when you do have sugar it should be
natural sugars from fruits etc. Viruses,
flus and colds can breed in a high sugar environment, which can end up
suppressing your immune system. Having
chicken soup when you feel sick, especially with flu and cold, is a great idea
– home made chicken soup is best, if you like making soups, and very yummy.
Some people do not eat enough fruits or vegetables anyway,
so the only other way you have to get those important nutrients into your body
is to feed the immune system with a good quality vitamin and mineral
supplement.
I have learned over the last 18 years that you need to give your body 90 essential nutrients everyday to live a long and healthy life and keep up the lifestyle we have all grown accustomed to. You will be amazed what your body and immune system will do, once you give it what it needs. Please check out my webinar below to further understand why we need to be topped up with 90 nutrients, and also find out what the 90 nutrients are.
Exercise is also good for your immune system – gets the
lymphatic system moving, which gets the blood flowing. Walking 30 minutes a day is great, and as I
said above, if you are sweating out nutrients with exercise, you need to be
putting those nutrients back into your body.
Conclusion
The truth is, we all want to grow old gracefully and extend out our life. So make the commitment by looking after your immune system and it will look after you so you can live a healthy life well into your 80s and 90s.
A balanced and healthy immune system is important to fight against infections, so anything you can do to strengthen and support your immune system will help to assure your well being.
Hopefully this information has given you some food for thought on how important it is to look after your immune system. As I said, I have only skimmed the top. There is so much more to the immune system. All I can add to finish off is that this is a complex and important system and needs to be respected and looked after.
“You can trace every sickness, every disease and every ailment to a mineral deficiency?” – Dr Linus Pauling, Two Time Nobel Prize Winner.
Minerals are an important part of your diets. Minerals help your body grow, develop, and stay healthy. Every cell in our body needs minerals. Minerals perform many different functions in our body. One of these functions is building strong bones to transmitting nerve impulses.
I have done a few blogs on the importance of minerals but this time I am going to focus on “plant” based minerals.
WHAT ARE PLANT DERIVED MINERALS?
Plant Derived Minerals come from the soil through the root of the plant, and your body is designed to uptake these. Most minerals today are no more than ground up rock or some other form that is not plant derived. Our bodies need plant derived.
Can we get these minerals in our food?
The answer is “only if it is in the soil that the food was grown in”. The best way to ensure we are getting our minerals is to grow our own fruit and vegetables, but even then we cannot guarantee we will get all the minerals our body needs every day. You need 60 ESSENTIAL MINERALS everyday.
Should I supplement with Minerals
Once again, a good question. The best way to support your body everyday with minerals is to eat food grown in mineral rich soil. However, that cannot be guaranteed, as minerals do not occur in the soil in a uniform fashion on the crust of the earth.
In Australia and New Zealand one mineral we lack is Selenium. You would need to physically put the minerals in your own soil yourself. The best thing you then need to do is supplement. Make sure you supplement with Plant Derived Minerals – your body will LOVE you.
Conclusion
I hope this information has given you some good information about the importance of plant minerals and how you should be implementing them into your diet.
If you would like to learn more about Plant Derived Minerals or how you can obtain these Minerals, click on the image below and get instant access to the free training video.
Dietary supplements include vitamins, minerals, herbs/botanicals, enzymes, amino acids, proteins and other dietary ingredients. These products are taken by mouth in pill, capsule, tablet or liquid form.
Why do our bodies need vitamins and minerals?
Vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients because they perform hundreds of roles in the body on a daily basis. Our bodies constantly construct skin, muscle and bone and manufacture red blood cells which carry nutrients and oxygen to remote areas in the body and send nerve signals skipping along thousands of miles of brain and body pathways. They also formulate chemical messengers that shuttle from one organ to another, issuing the instructions that help sustain our lives.
To do all this, our bodies require vitamins, minerals, micro minerals and some very essential trace minerals, components of which, by its self, our bodies cannot manufacture in sufficient amounts.
Vitamins and minerals are often called micronutrients because our bodies need only tiny amounts of them. Yet failing to get even those small quantities virtually guarantees disease. Many micronutrients interact. For example, vitamin D is the cofactor of over 3000 processes in the body, for example to enable our bodies to obtain calcium from food sources passing through our digestive tract rather than harvesting it from our bones. One of many roles played by vitamin C is to help make collagen, which knits together wounds, supports blood vessel walls, and forms a base for teeth and bones and yet bone formation would also be impossible without vitamins A, D, and K. Magnesium and zinc, just by themselves, each help with 300 catalysts, within the body. (Between them a total of six hundred). Several B vitamins are key components of certain coenzymes (molecules that aid enzymes) that help release energy from food.
The body needs, and stores, fairly large amounts of the major minerals which are no more important to our health than the trace minerals, they’re just present in our bodies in greater amounts.
Major minerals travel through the body in various ways. Potassium, for example, is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, where it circulates freely and is excreted by the kidneys, much like a water-soluble vitamin. Calcium is more like a fat-soluble vitamin because it requires a carrier for absorption and transport.
We need a variety of nutrients each day to stay healthy, not only calcium and vitamin D to protect our bones but also folic acid to produce and maintain new cells, and vitamin A to preserve a healthy immune system and vision to name just a few. In all we need 90 essential vitamins and minerals to run this great machine we call our body and keep it reproducing new healthy cells.
Why can’t we get all we need from our food?
If we want to achieve optimum health and a maximum life span, the nutritional bare bones just won’t cut it. We need to eat nutritious foods and take supplements that pick up where our nutritious foods, for various reasons, no longer take us.
Our modern environment also has a profound effect on our health and wellbeing, making our nutritional needs much greater.
Examples of other contributing factors include:
• A decline in soil quality and a consequent decline in the nutrient density of the foods we grow in it.
• A decrease in diversity of plant species consumed.
• An increase in exposure to food and environmental toxins and sprays.
• Overuse of antibiotics, birth control and other medications (damaging the gut and liver and so making it harder to absorb the nutrients we consume).
• An increase in chronic stress.
• A decrease in sleep quality and duration.
• A reduced connection with nature and less time spent outdoors.
• A move away from the tight-knit social groups that were the norm for humans until very recently and the resulting effect on our nervous system.
Having better health and vitality should be at the heart of everything we do. The power of nature can boost our body’s natural immunity and support systems, enhancing our health and vitality. The right kind of supplementation can enhance the power of nature – treating and resisting the effects of lifestyle and the lack of real nutrition in our diet.
Conclusion
So as you can see it is crucial in this day and age for us to consume dietary supplements on a daily basis if we want to support a healthy lifestyle and live a better quality of life. Food alone will not do it. The extra nutrients that supplements provide prevents free radicals from harming healthy cells, speeds the repair and regeneration of damaged cells, and facilitates healing. The result of all this is a longer, healthier, more vital life.
For further information on why we need to supplement and why minerals are one of the most important nutrients our body needs then click on the link below and listen to my webinar.
