Just about everything these days is touted as fat free. Take a stroll down the supermarket aisles and count the number of products that brightly claim to be low- or no-fat. Across the continent, fast-food operations are scrambling to jump on the low-fat bandwagon. Even the local soft-serve ice cream parlour boasts a sign declaring ice milk to be 95 per cent fat free.

And there's a good reason for this - for years, Canada has been dubbed a fat nation. In fact, 30 per cent of our population is said to be clinically obese, with the Canadian Medical Association calling obesity a national epidemic. But recent studies show that in our race to cut fat from our diets, we may be compromising our health, because all fats, it seems, are not created equal. Some fats are considered 'good oils,' essential to physical and mental well-being. Omega-3 fats are at the top of the good oils list, boasting a host of health-giving actions that you can't afford to miss.

Building blocks of good health

Omega-3 oils (also known as omega-3 fatty acids or essential fatty acids - EFAs) are polyunsaturated fatty acids essential to human nutrition. They are significant structural components of the cell membranes of tissues throughout the body, especially in the brain and retina.

Interest in omega-3 fats began around 30 years ago, when it was discovered that the oils play a significant part in overall health. Today, several thousand scientific papers document the benefits of these oils, with evidence supporting their role in the prevention and modulation of dozens of diseases from coronary heart disease and stroke, to certain cancers, allergies and even arthritis.

Our bodies do not produce omega-3s. We must eat food rich in essential fatty acids to reap the benefits. But modern diets are frighteningly poor in these good oils, due in part to bad food choices, the current low-fat craze and industry reliance on 'bad' fats in manufactured food products.

Some of the best sources of omega-3s are fish, walnuts, green leafy vegetables, flax and hemp seeds and oils, eggs, and grass-fed game and beef - things of which most people don't get enough.

Finding a healthy balance

To compound the situation, the benefits of the omega-3 oils we are consuming are essentially nullified by the amount of omega-6 oils we eat. The shift in dietary consumption to omega-6 oils over omega-3 oils has been well documented over the last 100 years. Omega-6 oils include canola, corn, safflower, sunflower and soy. While both omega-3 and omega-6 oils are important parts of a good diet, an imbalance of dietary omega-6 oils can actually lead to a worsening of inflammatory and degenerative diseases.

Experts suggest that omega-6 and omega-3 oils be consumed in a ratio of 1:1. However, studies indicate that our current intake is grossly imbalanced at a ratio of 20:1 – and in some cases, 50:1 - in favour of omega-6 oils. To offset this imbalance, it is necessary to increase omega-3 intake while replacing omega-6 oils with beneficial substitutes such as cold-pressed olive oil, coconut oil, avocados and organic butter.

Cardiovascular benefits

Perhaps the strongest evidence supporting the benefits of omega-3s is in research on coronary heart disease. Studies on humans, animals and tissue cultures have revealed an inverse relationship between the amount of omega-3 fats in the diet and the occurrence of heart disease and its many implications.

Omega-3s are said to prevent heart disease through anti-inflammatory properties, the prevention of arrhythmias (ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation), and by inhibiting atherosclerosis, among other things.

In one study in which omega-3 fatty acid intake was increased, overall mortality rate was decreased by 29 per cent among participants. In another, men who increased their fish consumption to once a week had a 70 per cent lower likelihood of cardiac arrest.

Omega-3s also help prevent thrombosis (the tendency to form blood clots), a major complication of coro nary atherosclerosis that can lead to heart attacks. The oils have been shown to increase bleeding time and decrease the stickiness of the platelets, decreasing the chance of blood clot development. In addition, atherosclerotic plaque formation may be lessened.

Arthritis relief

Of great interest to seniors is the connection between omega-3s and arthritis relief. Omega-3s offer anti-inflammatory properties without all the side-effects of over-the-counter drugs and prescription medications.

Among the oldest-known afflictions, arthritis can affect virtually every part of the body, with effects ranging from slight pain, stiffness and swelling of the joints, to crippling disability. Most sufferers have varying degrees of more than one type of arthritis (osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout).

Studies conclude that arthritics suffer from a 40 per cent deficiency in essential fatty acids compared to non-sufferers in North America, and a 100 per cent deficiency compared to people from non-industrialized nations whose diets are rich in omega-3 fats.

It is the prostaglandins in the body that regulate the inflammatory response. These prostaglandins are produced from dietary ingestion of healthful omega-3 fats, such as flaxseed oil and deep-water fish oil. A diet rich in omega-6 oils, such as safflower, soy, corn and sunflower, as well as in non-grass-fed animal meats, causes the production of inflammatory prostaglandins, worsening the symptoms of arthritis.

In addition to the anti-inflammatory action of omega-3s, it is also believed that these oils modulate the immune system, suppressing the attack on bones, cartilage and other bodily tissues. This immune-suppressing action is said to decrease the progression of arthritis and the degeneration of joints.

While the causes of arthritis are undoubtedly multifactorial, part of the problem can be traced to a deficiency of omega-3 fats. This can be remedied by decreasing the amount of inflammatory omega-6 oils, as well as non-grass-fed animal meats, and increasing the amount of omega-3 oils through dietary or supplementary sources. You need very little omega-3 oils to benefit from their health-giving properties - only five to seven grams a day - the equivalent of one to two tablespoons!

The wisdom of traditional diet
The role of omega-3 fats in cardiac fitness first became apparent in the study of the health status of Greenland Eskimos whose traditional diets were very high in marine fats from seals, whales and fish, and who showed a low incidence of coronary heart disease. Research proved that the indigenous diet contained large quantities of essential fatty acids - indicating a direct link between omega-3 oils and good heart health.