Dietary advice

• Introduction
• Sources of fatty acids in diet
• How to read your test results
• How to change your diet - guide
• How to restore fatty acid balance
• How to maintain fatty acid balance
• Literature references

How to change your diet - guide

Longer term dietary advice is  based on the fact that main dietary sources have different Fatty Acids Groups Profile, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Dietary fat groups with main sources in diet.

 

All diets, including a balanced diet, will show deviation from an average balanced diet. If your ‘Fatty Acid Profile Value’ is above 90 % you do not need to balance your diet. The advice given should not be followed to increase energy intake if your body mass index is above 25 (BMI = your weight in kg/(length in meter x length in meter)).

Special Arachidonic Acid Dietary Advice

Individuals with Arachidonic Acid (AA) Formation Efficiency below 30 % are advised to consume foods that contain omega-6 arachidonic acid (AA) like egg yolks, bone marrow and meats from grain-fed birds and animals on a daily basis.

Saturated fat (non-essential)

If you need to reduce intake of saturated fat to improve ‘Fatty Acid Profile Value’ and ‘Cell Membrane Fluidity Index’ you should avoid intake of products listed under the heading "Saturated fat" in Figure 1, or you may shift to low fat version of the same products. Note that excess sugar in your diet will be converted and stored as saturated fatty acids both in cell membranes and in adipose tissues. Thus, reducing your sugar and starch intake will also reduce the level of saturated fat in the body.

 

Increased consumption of pure meat combined with limited intake of cheese and other dairy products is advised, in case your saturated fat intake needs to be increased. In general, we do not recommend increased intake of any other product groups listed under the heading "Saturated fat".

Monounsaturated fat (non-essential)

If you need to reduce your intake of monounsaturated fat to improve ‘Fatty Acid Profile Value’ and ‘Cell Membrane Fluidity Index’, avoid intake of products listed under the heading "Monounsaturated fat (omega-9)" in Figure 1.

 

Monounsaturated fats are generally considered to be healthier than saturated fats, although the body is able to produce both fatty acids groups from various raw materials like proteins and carbohydrates. In the traditional low calorie Mediterranean diet the dietary ratio between monounsaturated- and saturated fatty acids groups is close to 2:1 In BioActive Foods Products the ratio between monounsaturated- and saturated fatty acids is 2:1, as in the Mediterranean diet.

Polyunsaturated vegetable fat (essential)

If you need to reduce your intake of polyunsaturated vegetable fat to improve ‘Fatty Acid Profile Value’ and ‘Omega-6 (AA)/Omega-3 (EPA) Balance’, avoid intake of products listed in Figure 1 under the heading "Polyunsaturated vegetable fat (omega-6)", or you may shift to low fat version of the same products.

 

Try to avoid products that are formulated on high omega-6 vegetable oils such as sunflower oil, corn oil and soya oil. You can reduce intake of omega-6 just by shifting to products that are formulated on low omega-6 vegetable oil sources, such as olive oil and rapeseed oil.  If your results indicate that the intake should be increased then you may increase intake of the same products.

Polyunsaturated fish fat (essential)

Todays western diets are generally deficient in omega-3 compared with the diet on which humans evolved, and which helped establish our genetic patterns. Thus, most people need to increase their dietary intake of polyunsaturated fish fat.  Since the vegetable omega-3 (ALA) is not sufficiently converted to EPA and DHA in the body, the only food sources available to increase intake of polyunsaturated fish fat are the various fatty fish species, such as those listed under the heading "Polyunsaturated fish fat (omega-3)" in Figure 1.

 

Intake of "Polyunsaturated fish fat (omega-3)"  improves the following Dietary indicators:

• Fatty acid profile value
• Omega-3 (EPA +DHA) level (%)
• Omega-6 (AA)/Omega-3 (EPA) Balance
• Saturated fat/Omega-3 (EPA+DHA) Balance ("Cell Membrane Fluidity Index")
• Omega-6 (AA)/Omega-3 (EPA+DHA) Balance ("Mood related Wellness Index")

Daily requirement of marine omega-3 EPA and DHA is dependent on body weight. Adult persons of 80 kg body weight need to consume approximately 3 grams of omega-3 (EPA + DHA) daily to get the Omega-3 (EPA+DHA) level above 8 %. The minimum of 4 % Omega-3 (EPA+DHA) level in the fatty acids profile requires at least 0.5 gram omega-3 (EPA+DHA) daily. Most omega-3 supplements in the market recommend daily dosages of marine omega-3 in the range of 150 mg to 1.5 gram. This is far too little to reach the dietary target of above 8 % Omega-3 (EPA+DHA) level, if such omega-3 supplements are not combined with daily intake of fatty fish. Daily intake of 0.15 ml/kg body weight of BioActive Foods oil or 0.35 g/kg body weight of BioActive Foods powder will provide you with the required amount of marine omega-3.