What is the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 required for optimal health?
Over millions of years, humans have consumed a diet that contained approximately equal amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 essential fatty acids. In Western societies over the past 150 years, there has been a huge increase in the proportion of omega-6s consumed in vegetable oils (both as cooking oils and in processed foods) from the seeds of corn, sunflower, safflower and soybeans. Current estimates of Western diets suggest a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in the order of 10-20:1. Hundreds of research studies have demonstrated that many current health problems are associated with an inflated amount of omega 6 relative to omega 3, including increased risk of heart disease.
