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Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are fatty acids that are required by humans and other animals for normal physiological function that cannot be synthesized in the body. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] As they are not synthesized in the body, the essential fatty acids – alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid – must be obtained from food or from a ...
Two essential fatty acids are linoleic acid (LA) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). These fatty acids are widely distributed in plant oils. The human body has a limited ability to convert ALA into the longer-chain omega-3 fatty acids — eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which can also be obtained from fish.
The Burrs coined the phrase "essential fatty acids". [14] Since then, researchers have shown a growing interest in unsaturated essential fatty acids as they form the framework for the organism's cell membranes. [15] Subsequently, awareness of the health benefits of essential fatty acids has dramatically increased since the 1980s. [16]
Fatty acid breakdown. There is a wide variety of fatty acids found in nature. Two classes of fatty acids are considered essential, the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Essential fatty acids are necessary for humans but cannot be synthesized by the body and must therefore be obtained from food.
In fatty acids the carbon atom of the methyl group at the end of the hydrocarbon chain is called the omega carbon because omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. Omega-3 fatty acids have a double bond three carbons away from the methyl carbon, whereas omega-6 fatty acids have a double
Fatty acids (or their salts) often do not occur as such in biological systems. Instead fatty acids such as oleic acid occur as their esters, commonly triglycerides, which are the greasy materials in many natural oils. Oleic acid is the most common monounsaturated fatty acid in nature.