Paul Saladino, MD

And the first desaturation point, which is a double bond, if it's close to the end of the molecule, if it's three carbons from the end, we call it an omega-3. If it's six carbons from the end, we call it an omega-6. Omega-3s are in much smaller amounts in our diets than omega-6s. And need to be in higher amounts, yeah. Well, they probably should be in higher amounts for most of us, right?

Many of us, you and I, get plenty of omega-3s and maybe don't need to increase, right? Right. Omega-3s occur naturally. And omega-3s, we're talking about ALA, which is alpha-linolenic acid, not linoleic, alpha-linolenic acid. DHA, docosahexaenoic acid, EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid, and DPA, docosapentaenoic acid. And there's a sort of a biosynthesis pathway, and the pathways parallel, right?

Many of us, you and I, get plenty of omega-3s and maybe don't need to increase, right? Right. Omega-3s occur naturally. And omega-3s, we're talking about ALA, which is alpha-linolenic acid, not linoleic, alpha-linolenic acid. DHA, docosahexaenoic acid, EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid, and DPA, docosapentaenoic acid. And there's a sort of a biosynthesis pathway, and the pathways parallel, right?

Many of us, you and I, get plenty of omega-3s and maybe don't need to increase, right? Right. Omega-3s occur naturally. And omega-3s, we're talking about ALA, which is alpha-linolenic acid, not linoleic, alpha-linolenic acid. DHA, docosahexaenoic acid, EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid, and DPA, docosapentaenoic acid. And there's a sort of a biosynthesis pathway, and the pathways parallel, right?

So there's the same exact series of enzymes. These are desaturases and elongases that turn ALA into DPA, and they also turn linoleic acid into arachidonic acid and other omega-6 downstream metabolites. And so D5D, D6D, these are shared enzymes between omega-3 and omega-6.

So there's the same exact series of enzymes. These are desaturases and elongases that turn ALA into DPA, and they also turn linoleic acid into arachidonic acid and other omega-6 downstream metabolites. And so D5D, D6D, these are shared enzymes between omega-3 and omega-6.

So there's the same exact series of enzymes. These are desaturases and elongases that turn ALA into DPA, and they also turn linoleic acid into arachidonic acid and other omega-6 downstream metabolites. And so D5D, D6D, these are shared enzymes between omega-3 and omega-6.

And one of the things we know is that if you're eating a lot of omega-6, and I would argue that humans are eating evolutionarily inappropriately high amounts of omega-6, and probably for many, evolutionarily inappropriately low amounts of omega-3, because processed foods don't have much omega-3, but they're full of omega-6. This is a problem because these pathways are parallel.

And one of the things we know is that if you're eating a lot of omega-6, and I would argue that humans are eating evolutionarily inappropriately high amounts of omega-6, and probably for many, evolutionarily inappropriately low amounts of omega-3, because processed foods don't have much omega-3, but they're full of omega-6. This is a problem because these pathways are parallel.

And one of the things we know is that if you're eating a lot of omega-6, and I would argue that humans are eating evolutionarily inappropriately high amounts of omega-6, and probably for many, evolutionarily inappropriately low amounts of omega-3, because processed foods don't have much omega-3, but they're full of omega-6. This is a problem because these pathways are parallel.

And when you eat too much omega-6, all the enzymatic activity of those shared enzymes goes to the omega-6 pathway, and you can't really biotransform the omega-3s.

And when you eat too much omega-6, all the enzymatic activity of those shared enzymes goes to the omega-6 pathway, and you can't really biotransform the omega-3s.

And when you eat too much omega-6, all the enzymatic activity of those shared enzymes goes to the omega-6 pathway, and you can't really biotransform the omega-3s.

You can get preformed omega-3s in your diet, but you are not really gonna be able to biotransform anything if you're getting ALA, alpha-linolenic acid, or any of the upstream omega-3 metabolites, and you wanna turn them into DPA or downstream metabolites. You can't do that well if you're eating a lot of omega-6.

You can get preformed omega-3s in your diet, but you are not really gonna be able to biotransform anything if you're getting ALA, alpha-linolenic acid, or any of the upstream omega-3 metabolites, and you wanna turn them into DPA or downstream metabolites. You can't do that well if you're eating a lot of omega-6.

You can get preformed omega-3s in your diet, but you are not really gonna be able to biotransform anything if you're getting ALA, alpha-linolenic acid, or any of the upstream omega-3 metabolites, and you wanna turn them into DPA or downstream metabolites. You can't do that well if you're eating a lot of omega-6.

So if you look at the amount of omega-3 that I eat, it's pretty small in my diet, relatively speaking. I have egg yolks sometimes and I get my omega-3s from animal fats. There's omega-3s in that cream on the milk, right? There's omega-3s in meat. I don't feel like I need to supplement with a fish oil because I'm eating unprocessed animal foods that are primarily fed grass.

So if you look at the amount of omega-3 that I eat, it's pretty small in my diet, relatively speaking. I have egg yolks sometimes and I get my omega-3s from animal fats. There's omega-3s in that cream on the milk, right? There's omega-3s in meat. I don't feel like I need to supplement with a fish oil because I'm eating unprocessed animal foods that are primarily fed grass.

So if you look at the amount of omega-3 that I eat, it's pretty small in my diet, relatively speaking. I have egg yolks sometimes and I get my omega-3s from animal fats. There's omega-3s in that cream on the milk, right? There's omega-3s in meat. I don't feel like I need to supplement with a fish oil because I'm eating unprocessed animal foods that are primarily fed grass.

And my body can biotransform alpha-linolenic acid into EPA, DHA, DPA. I've done these checks, and I have lots of EPA, DHA, and DPA in my body, and I don't take a fish oil supplement because I'm eating less omega-6. I have very low levels of omega-6, so my body can use those parallel enzymes.