Whether you are a runner, a tennis player, a dancer or an all around exercise junkie, you need to be getting enough of the good healthy fats in your diet. The typical American diet is high in the “bad” fats like hydrogenated oils and trans fats. These “bad” fats are found in processed junk foods, frozen foods, margarines, french fries, donuts and other baked goods. We should be eliminating, or at least minimizing, our intake of those foods and adding small amounts of good- for- you healthy fats like avocados, flax seeds/ flax oil, chia seeds, fish oil, and sesame oil.  Fatty acids are the main building blocks of fats.  Like amino acids, there are some fatty acids that are essential and must come from the food we eat.

The two essential fatty acids that the human body cannot produce are the omega-3 fatty acid and omega-6 fatty acid, which are important for brain development, immune system function and blood pressure regulation.  In the typical American diet, we get more Omega-6 FA’s and not enough Omega-3 FA.   The ideal ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 is 1:4.  It is not unusual for Americans to have a ratio of 1:20!  This is 20 times as much Omega-6 as Omega-3.  Foods containing Omega-6 EFA are safflower oil, cottonseed oil, olive oil, raw nuts and seeds like pistachio nuts.  We need Omega-6 EFAs but many processed and frozen foods contain oils, which are heavy in Omega -6 and lack important Omega-3 EFA’s.

Try to get as much of these healthy fats from foods, rather then supplements or processed and packaged foods.

These healthy fatty acids work in our bodies to support the following:

Healthy Heart and Brain Function

Radiant Skin, Hair and Nails

Joint function

Balanced Hormones

Healthy Cholesterol and Triglyceride levels

Here is a list of some of the best sources of Omega-3 rich fatty acids:

Wild caught fish like Salmon or Cod, Albacore Tuna

Flax seeds or flax oil

Chia seeds

Walnuts

Pumpkin seeds

Olive Oil

Sesame Oil

Avocados

If you are looking for a great source of both of Omega 3-6 -9 fatty acids and Vitamin D3 and Vitamin E, try Nano EPA from the Super Food Solution.  It is a highly absorbable form- more than 300% than standard forms of fish oil. It comes in 2 great flavors: lemon crème and pins colada.  The best part, is that there is no fishy taste!  You can order directly from my website.