Essential fatty acids

**patrick1** · 06-29-2008, 04:58 AM

the only essential fatty acids i am getting at present in my diet are the two meals a day of
200g tuna 1 teaspoon of flaxseed oil
one of these at 3pm the other at 9pm
i have other forms of fat through the day
with the 2 slices of wholemeal bread and low fat cottage cheese
but these only add up to about 4o g max
do i need more EFA during the day
i have read somewhere that your not meant to have more than 10ml a day of flaxseed oil

**sweeney todd** · 06-29-2008, 08:01 AM

Originally Posted by patrick1

the only essential fatty acids i am getting at present in my diet are the two meals a day of
200g tuna 1 teaspoon of flaxseed oil
one of these at 3pm the other at 9pm
i have other forms of fat through the day
with the 2 slices of wholemeal bread and low fat cottage cheese
but these only add up to about 4o g max
do i need more EFA during the day
i have read somewhere that your not meant to have more than 10ml a day of flaxseed oil

i have around 20 grams of efa's a day. i think your taking in too few.

**patrick1** · 06-29-2008, 09:26 AM

i have 400g tuna a day is there no EFA`s in that
should i have maybe some peanut butter somewhere?

**C_Bino** · 06-29-2008, 05:13 PM

If you take in flax oil primarily you are getting a lot of w3 acids and not w6. The best long term ratio for w3:w6 fatty acids is 2:1 or 3:1.

You only REQUIRE alpha linoleic and linoleic acid. From those 2 your body can creae the other 3 necessary oils, EPA, DHA an GLA...and from there the prostoglandins.

If you are training hard and taking in more calories you need more EFA's as well. But the average person needs about 1tbsp of w3 and 1tsp w6 per day.