Am J Clin Nutr 2006: Healthy intakes of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids

[hailtotheking]

Cheers for that info Nu. Sorry in my post preceding yours I should have said standard commercial 'livestock' not 'cattle' as a source of high PUFA and omega 6. It seems that beef is pretty low in PUFA regardless of whether or not its free-range or standard. As you say, domestic poultry is quite high in PUFA and omega 6 compared to wild, as is swine meat (compare wild boar to domestic pig for example).

Very interesting that you point out about Arachadonic Acid!This makes the investigation into low omega 6 food choices even deeper. I actually cut my egg intake a little to try and get my omega 6 intake down, but now i realise a fair amount of the omega 6 in eggs is Arachadonic Acid!
However, as important as Arachadonic Acid is, like all PUFAs i still think you don't need loads of it.

[James]

A randomized controlled intervention with fish oil versus sunflower oil from 9 to 18 months of age: exploring changes in growth and skinfold thicknesses. - A randomized controlled intervention with fish o... [Pediatr Res. 2011] - PubMed - NCBI

New abstract posted online today, maybe of some related interest.

[NU_nutrition_TS]

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Cheers for that info Nu. Sorry in my post preceding yours I should have said standard commercial 'livestock' not 'cattle' as a source of high PUFA and omega 6. It seems that beef is pretty low in PUFA regardless of whether or not its free-range or standard. As you say, domestic poultry is quite high in PUFA and omega 6 compared to wild, as is swine meat (compare wild boar to domestic pig for example).

Ah, I wondered if you had meant that! Definitely poultry seems to be the worst offender for high PUFA content, which is why I eat very little poultry nowadays! I would question whether pork is quite that bad, though, based on nutritional data. Wild boar meat (raw) per 100g has 3.3g of total fat of which 0.5g is total PUFA. Domestically raised pork loin (separable lean only, raw) per 100g has 5.7g total fat of which 0.6g is total PUFA. That's not a huge difference in absolute terms. Total omega-3 content is identical in both cases (20mg) and even omega-6 content is not that different in absolute terms at 380mg for wild boar and 490mg for domestic pork loin.

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Very interesting that you point out about Arachadonic Acid!This makes the investigation into low omega 6 food choices even deeper. I actually cut my egg intake a little to try and get my omega 6 intake down, but now i realise a fair amount of the omega 6 in eggs is Arachadonic Acid!

Yes, I see it as analogous to the conversion of ALA into DHA and EPA (very poor!). LA has to be first converted to GLA and then AA, according to one source I read. That is why I'd rather get my n-6 from meat and my n-3 from meat, eggs and, principally a little oily fish - completely avoiding grains, nuts and seeds. That's not to say nuts and seeds can't be enjoyed as an occasional snack but they can prove difficult to limit once you start eating them!

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However, as important as Arachadonic Acid is, like all PUFAs i still think you don't need loads of it.

Absolutely agree. I believe a 4:1 ratio between the two is probably ideal (more so than the 2-1:1 ratio often advised - though this may be as a counter-measure to a lifetime of a 20:1 ratio!) but as to the ideal absolute amount - no idea other than it should be the minority of all fatty acid intake. I tend to trust to nature and evolution, so the relatively low amounts in most meat and other animal foods is probably in the ball park!