| THE CRITICAL NEED FOR OMEGA-3 SUPPLEMENTATION Imagine the impact of a shift in dietary patterns so rapid and radical that it adversely effects thousands of bodily metabolic functions simultaneously. Perhaps a world-wide famine, global water or atmospheric pollution and/or radiation could pose such a threat by contaminating or robbing our food of nutrients. The fact of the matter is the scenario given here is not hypothetical but exists here and now. Though not as obvious as a global catastrophe, the true cause is much more insidious and began with the industrial revolution and the processing of food stuffs to facilitate national and global transportation, packaging and stability.  Throughout human history mankind has ingested an approximate equal proportion (1/1 ratio) of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids. The Omegas 6 and 3 are two of forty-nine known essential nutrients. As essential nutrients they cannot be synthesized by the body, but must be ingested directly in foods or in the form of dietary supplements. The relationship of equivalence between the two Omegas is critical because they self-check each other in a delicate balance to regulate thousands of metabolic functions through prostaglandin pathways. (Fig. 1) Nearly every biologic function is somehow interconnected with the delicate balance between Omega-6 and Omega-3. Omega-3s are intimately involved in the control of inflammation, cardiovascular health, myelin sheath development, allergic reactivity, immune response, hormone modulation, IQ, and behavior. A seemingly minor, yet major change in Omega balance dictated by dietary ingestion has absolute deleterious health effects. The rapid change in dietary fat ingestion within only the last 50-100 years has bewildered human bio-physiology created to function optimally on equal proportions of dietary omegas.
Diets that provide Omega-6 oils at the expense of Omega-3 stimulate pro-inflammatory pathways in the body. While Omega-3’s on the other hand stimulates anti-inflammatory pathways. As a result Omega-6 has been coined as “bad” and Omega-3 as “good.” In fact both are essential for human health and it is the balance of the two in relation to each other that is important. Dominant Omega-6 in the body can create a situation that promotes chronic inflamation, propagation of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis and auto-immunity.
The body’s inflammatory response is intimately regulated by Omega-3s. The inflammatory response was created to respond to acute injury or microbial attack. However, if the inflammatory response is needlessly provoked, damage to tissues and organs of the body occurs. The reduction of Omega-3 in the diets of industrialized nations has created a situation of chronic inflamation in these people. In this case, the symptom of inflamation precedes the disease. However, as inflamation leads to disease a vicious circle of inflamation and disease is formed.
Summary
A global dietary shift unprecedented in human history favoring the ingestion of Omega-6 at the expense of Omega-3 is being owed as a primary, if not the leading cause of westernized degenerative diseases. In light of this information it is highly advisable to make conscious dietary choices to reduce the amount of extraneous Omega-6 in the diet and to ingest Omega-3 supplements in an effort to return the body to balance. The absolute best choice in accomplishing this goal is Omega-3 rich organic flax oil at a dosage of 1 - 2 Tbsp. per day. 
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