Essential Fatty Acids

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Latest Edit: General 2013-06-25 (EDT)

Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are fats that humans requires for health and cannot synthesize on their own. Essential fatty acids must be obtained from the diet.

The two main EFAs for humans are alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA). Other fatty acids that are sometimes referred to as essential include gamma-linolenic acid, (an omega-6 fatty acid), lauric acid (a saturated fatty acid), and palmitoleic acid (a monounsaturated fatty acid).

Article "Low Levels of the Essential Fatty Acid DHA Associated With Greater Military Suicide Risk", NMJ, [1], 2011 November
  • Palmitoleic acid is an Omega-7 monounsaturated fatty acid which is found in animal oils, vegetable oils, and marine oils. Macadamia oil (Macadamia integrifolia) and sea buckthorn oil (Hippophae rhamnoides) are botanical sources with high concentrations, containing 17%[1] and 40%[2] of palmitoleic acid, respectively.[1]

References

  1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmitoleic_acid