Omega 6 Fatty Acids ….and the Genetic Obesity Timebomb

Original Image: http://fxcuisine.com

Back in the day, your ancestors used to eat…

• Meat -i.e  beef, pork, chicken, fish, seafood, etc…
• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Nuts & Seeds
• Seed Oils
• Water

Today, in addition to deep fried pizza,  we eat oodles of:

• Processed meat
• Processed vegetables…mostly deep fried potatoes of some variety
• Processed fruit – mostly juice
• Processed seed oil
• Processed grains
• Processed corn
• Processed sugar
• Next to no fiber
• Next to no enzymes
• and gallons and gallons of sugary soda

The result: An increasingly unhealthy & overweight population that would get it’s collective butt kicked by our ultra-fit Paleo ancestors.

And, according to the latest research, one of the worst aspects of our modern diet is our imbalance of Omega 6 fatty acids to Omega 3 fatty acids.

Omega 6 Fatty Acids ….and the Genetic Obesity Timebomb

According to this latest study, eating a diet that is high in linoleic acid (omega 6), and low in alpha-linoleic acid (omega 3) will result in the genetic inheritance of obesity & insulin resistance.

In other words…Continue eating those deep fried pizzas and your kids will be born fat & insulin resistant.

The Science

In this study, the researchers exposed several generations of male and female adult and young mice to a modern “Western” style diet high in Omega 6 and low in Omega 3 fatty acids, and then assessed the consequences of such a lipid environment in the human diet.

The test diet had an Omega 6 : Omega 3 ratio of 28:1.

With no other restrictions, the mice were allowed to go about their business. And four generations later, with no additional interference from the researchers, the great-great grandmice were compared to their ancestors.

And the comparison didn’t go well.

• the researchers saw a gradual increase in fat mass over the four generations
• they also observed the onset of  insulin resistance….
• the expression of inflammatory genes associated with obesity, and….
• the development of type 2 diabetes.

Conclusion

In a genetically stable population, exposure to a “Western” diet (high in Omega 6 : low in Omega 3) results in the emergence of transgenerational obesity, insulin resistance, systemic inflammation and a higher likelihood of becoming diabetes.

So, where do we go from here?

Option 1

• Optimize your Omega 6 : Omega 3 ratio by going Paleo

Option 2

• Try to offset those deep fried pizzas with bottles of Omega 3 fish oils.

Option 3

• Change nothing and sentence your kids to a future like the humans in Wall-E

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Reference

• study abstract
• full text of the author’s manuscript

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4. Your Omega 3 Prescription
5. Omega 3s protect men from heart failure