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Essential fatty acid

Not to be confused with essential oil.
Types of fats in food
Components
Manufactured fats

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 dietary supplement.[1][3][4] Essential fatty acids are needed for various cellular metabolic processes and for the maintenance and function of tissues and organs.[1][5] These fatty acids also are precursors to vitamins, cofactors, and derivatives, including prostaglandins, leukotrienes, thromboxanes, lipoxins, and others.[6]

Only two fatty acids are known to be essential for humans: alpha-linolenic acid (an omega−3 fatty acid) and linoleic acid (an omega−6 fatty acid). These are supplied to the body either as the free fatty acid, or more commonly as some glyceride derivative.[7] ALA can be converted into eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, but the conversion amount is small, requiring intake from food or supplements.[1] Deficiency in omega−3 fatty acids are very common. The average American has a dietry ratio between omega−6 fatty acids and omega−3 fatty acids of 20:1.

When the two EFAs were discovered in 1923, they were designated "vitamin F", but in 1929, research on rats showed that the two EFAs are better classified as fats rather than vitamins.[8]

  1. ^ a b c d "Omega-3 Fatty Acids". Office of Dietary Supplements, US National Institutes of Health. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  2. ^ Robert S. Goodhart; Maurice E. Shils (1980). Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease (6th ed.). Philadelphia: Lea and Febinger. pp. 134–138. ISBN 978-0-8121-0645-9.
  3. ^ Vaughan JG, Geissler C, Nicholson B, Dowle E, Rice E (2009). The new Oxford book of food plants. Oxford University Press US. pp. 212–235. ISBN 978-0-19-954946-7. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  4. ^ Kaur N, Chugh V, Gupta AK (October 2014). "Essential fatty acids as functional components of foods- a review". Journal of Food Science and Technology. 51 (10): 2289–303. doi:10.1007/s13197-012-0677-0. PMC 4190204. PMID 25328170.
  5. ^ Chipponi JX, Bleier JC, Santi MT, Rudman D (May 1982). "Deficiencies of essential and conditionally essential nutrients". The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 35 (5 Suppl): 1112–6. doi:10.1093/ajcn/35.5.1112. PMID 6805293.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Das was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Whitney Ellie; Rolfes SR (2008). Understanding Nutrition (11th ed.). California: Thomson Wadsworth. p. 154.
  8. ^ Burr GO, Burr MM (April 1930). "On the nature and role of the fatty acids essential in nutrition". J. Biol. Chem. 86 (2): 587–621. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(20)78929-5.

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