What You Need To Know About Essential Fatty Acids

There are some things that everyone knows about weight lifting. One of them is that the most important foods we need to eat are high in protein and low in fat. In fact virtually everyone is under the assumption that they should eat as little fat as possible because it is the only way to stay slim. Fat is often demonised in society but the truth is that not all fat is bad. In fact, there are certain fats that your body needs in order to build muscle, burn fat and stay healthy. These fats are known as essential fatty acids (EFAs).

There are two main types of EFAs; they are known as omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids. They are considered to be ‘essential’ because the body cannot synthesise the fats on its own. There are also omega-9 fatty acids which are considered necessary but not essential because the body can produce some of these acids on its own.

It is important for you to consume an ideal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3, which is thought to be around 4:1. Unfortunately the average intake per person is thought to be at a ratio of around 10:1 or even up to 25:1. This can be especially problematic if you’re hoping to build muscle as this incorrect ratio will not only slow down growth, repair, and fat loss immensely it can also cause significant health problems.

So what do EFAs exactly do to help with your muscle growth goals? One way that EFAs can help with the muscle growth process is that they help in the formation of eicosanoids.