Are all fats evil?  Not all!  Some are even essential for your health.  We talked about how saturated fats have a high melting point and tend to clump together, which is a cause for concern when it happens in your arteries.  Your body trying to use saturated fats is sort of like trying to dance with Herman Munster.  Stiff and difficult.

However, unsaturated fats have a low melting point.  They don’t clump together in your body. Because their carbon molecules aren’t attached, they are more flexible and usable in your body.  Your body using unsaturated fats is more like dancing with Fred Astaire.  Much more fluid and MUCH easier to happen.

Some unsaturated fats called essential fatty acids are necessary for your body to function as it should.  They are called essential because you can’t live without them and your body can’t make them.  Three particular types of essential fatty acids found in unsaturated fats are called Omega 3, Omega 6 and Omega 9.

The Omega 9’s are not as active.  They contribute mainly to the structure of cell membranes.  We tend to get plenty of these in our diet.

We usually get a lot of Omega 6 fatty acids, too, but lack of them can cause some serious health issues.  How do you know if you have enough Omega 6 fatty acids?  Some of the indications of deficiency are *eczema and psoriasis *menstrual complaints *heart disease * diabetes *hair loss *reduced immune function *behavioral difficulties *poor healing *poor hair and nail health and  *glandular atrophy, leading to weight disorders.  Of course, there are other causes for all of these disorders, but a lack of Omega 6’s can cause or contribute to these ailments.  Supplementing with black current seed oil — available at your health food store or online — might be worth a try.

Most of our deficiencies are in Omega 3 fatty acids, though.  We’ll take a closer look at them in our next post.

Eating to live and living for Christ,

Susan Jordan Brown