Is Our Intake of Vegetable Oils Inflammatory? Some research suggests so.
Chronic inflammation is associated with the onset of many chronic diseases including heart disease and cancer. From eating different types of polyunsaturated fats, we can influence the presence of inflammation by the fact that certain hormone-like compounds called eisosanoids within the body are produced from polyunsaturated fats that affect blood clotting, blood pressure, immune function, and the inflammatory response. These fats are called omega-6 (inflammatory) or omega-3 (anti-inflammatory) fatty acids.
The problem is that the American Diet contains too many omega-6 and too little omega-3 fats. We ideally evolved on a ratio of these fatty acids as 1:1. Currently our diet has an unbalanced ratio of 1:20 of 6’s and 3’s respectively. The following article addresses the research that suggests that this issue may be partly responsible for our higher cancer rates than found in other countries with a more favorable ratio (closer to 1:1 of these fats. The last part gives us some sound advice on what to do with your diet to alleviate this problem.
FOOD, FACTS and FADS 