With all the misinformation and scandal surrounding fats and oils in our press of late, could you possibly appreciate that we have certain oils that are essential to our health, fitness and well-being? And believe it or not they are certainly not the ones that you will find on every supermarket shelf, no these are termed as essential fatty acids. These are the very oils that can heal our bodies, improve our health, clear and condition our skin and burn off body fat. I’m sure most of us have heard of Omega 3 and Omega 6 six oils without which our bodies will never reach there full potential.

Why are they so essential?

Our bodies need around 50 essential nutrients daily to maintain health and fight off disease to its fullest potential and we have two oils which are included in this list of essential nutrients they are Linoleic acid (LA) and Alpha-Linolenic acid (LNA). They are the building blocks of many important structures and functions within our cells, organs and tissues. Yet we get very little of these essential oils within our diet as the majority of the oils that are ingested within our diet are refined and have these nutrients removed from them. So no matter how much a manufacturer may claim that their product is ‘high in polyunsaturates’ or ‘low in saturates’ they are still not healthy as the oils used within their products have usually gone through the process of being chemically treated, bleached, filtered and had artificial additives added for good measure, or even worse they may have been partially hydrogenated.

So the end product that you receive from your local store is a poor quality variant of the healthful essential oils that we should be receiving daily. And this is all down to making as much money as possible with the least amount of wastage and operational costs, true this may produce very cheap oils, but what good is that if they are actively making us unwell? So if all these oils, margarines and vegetable spreads are so high in polyunsaturates (omega 6’s) where are the omega 3 oils to maintain a healthy balance? No where to be seen. Because even though they are essential for our health they are much more awkward to deal with and far more bother than any large producer would care to trouble themselves with. As essential oils react with light, oxygen and heat they have to be extracted and bottled and eventually packaged with some very extreme measure to prevent spoilage. Large producers simply don’t need that kind of added expense or trouble.

It is of utmost importance for us to receive these oils daily, but not only that, we need for them to be in the correct ratio. At present our diets are largely dominated by cheap refined polyunsaturates the type of which has no place in our diet or our body. Some of the effects from a deficiency in omega 3 LNA (alpha-linolenic acid) are dry skin, high blood pressure, high triglycerides (blood fats) and oedema and tissue inflammation. All of which hardly form the basis for life long health. We can also experience behavioural changes, impaired vision, retarded growth and overall weakness. All these problems because we don’t get enough of the right oils, and are bombarded with tons of useless flowing plastics under the guise of healthful products.