|
Huge
numbers of snak
FATTY ACIDS, YOU AND YOUR PET
You have read about them, seen advertisements about them and maybe
even have taken them yourself; but
what do you really know about FATTY ACIDS and nutrition? Did you
know that over 70 have been
discovered in nature? You have heard them be termed "essential"
Fatty Acids and that is exactly what
they are… essential for you and your pets to consume in your diet in
order to achieve good health. Let's
pretend you know nothing about these fats and begin at the beginning
to find out why we need to be aware
of the significant role Fatty Aids play in our zofamily's health.
(In case you didn't know… a zofamily is
the term used for any human family that considers its pets to be a
part of the real family. It's pronunciation
sounds like SO FAMILY.)
Pets and humans eat to live. It just happens to also be enjoyable.
Humans and dogs are Omnivores, that is
we can utilize either plant or animal sources exclusively and still
survive. Cats are true Carnivores because
they HAVE to consume meat to survive and will not live long on
plant-only sources of food. One of the
necessary elements of a health promoting diet for us humans, for
dogs and for cats is fats. There are all
kinds of biologically active fats and each one plays a role in the
biochemical pathways within us that keep
us (the zofamily) alive. Some fats can be digested and split up into
smaller fat items and those smaller fat
items contribute their fair share in the health of the individual.
Sources of Omega 6 Fatty Acid… plant sources only.
Omega-6 is found in safflower, sunflower, corn and evening primrose
oils and Borage oil.
Linoleic Acid, a naturally occurring Omega 6 Fatty Acid, is found in
common pet-food ingredients such as
corn and chicken fat and is a required nutritional component of the
canine and feline diet. It cannot be
synthesized within a dog or cat's body so it must be consumed in
some form of food so that other fatty
acids can be synthesized. It is essential for normal skin and coat
health, for growth, cell membrane
integrity and fat-soluble vitamin interactions.
Sources of Omega 3 Fatty Acids… from plant and animal sources.
Fish oils, especially cold-water fish such as salmon, mackerel,
halibut, and herring, and in animals that feed
on these fish, are the primary dietary source of omega-3 fatty
acids.
Omega-3 fatty acids are also found in oils from some plants (canola
and flax). Flaxseeds are rich in
omega-3 EFAs. Walnuts and soybeans also contain significant amounts
as well as freshly ground wheat
germ.
Sources of both Omega 3 and Omega 6 Fatty Acids
Dried beans, such as great northern, kidney, navy and soybeans are
inexpensive sources of both omega-6
and omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids. Certain fish are very rich in
EFAs. The body can convert EFAs from
fish more easily than other forms.
Let's take a look at the structure of the two most important Fatty
Acids that the zoofamily needs, Omega 3
and Omega 6 Fatty Acids:
The word Omega is a chemistry term indicating where the unsaturated
double bond is on the long chain of
carbon atoms making up the backbone of the Fatty Acid molecule.
Omega 3 means the unsaturated double
bond is three carbon atoms from the tail end of the long molecule
and Omega 6 means the double bond is 6
carbon atoms from the tail end of the Fatty Acid molecule. What
seems to us to be an insignificant
difference between structures of a chemical can really make a huge
difference in the chemical's activity…
just like changing one single letter's placement in a sentence can
change the entire meaning of the
sentance.
Definitions:
An OIL is a lipid substance that is liquid at 25? C which is 77?
Fahrenheit.
A FAT is a lipid substance that is solid at 25? C which is 77?
Fahrenheit.
EFA stands for Essential Fatty Acids.
An Essential Fatty Acid is one that an individual must ingest in
order to survive.
Saturated Fatty Acids are those that have no chemical bonds left
unattended, that is, they have no "double
bonds" between their carbon backbone waiting to trap such atoms as
hydrogen.
Unsaturated Fatty Acids are those that have chemical spaces that
will attract more hydrogen atoms and do
have "double bonds" along their carbon backbones.
Monounsaturated Fatty Acids have only one place where there is a
"double bond" along the carbon
backbone.
Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids have more than one place where there is
a "double bond" along the carbon
backbone.
Fats are solids at room temperature and are usually saturated.
Oils are liquid at room temperature and usually are polyunsaturated.
Linoleic Acid is Omega 6 Fatty Acid.
GLA is gamma linoleic acid which is the active form of Linoleic
Acid.
Linolenic Acid is Omega 3 Fatty Acid.
It has been determined that Omega Fatty Acids need to be consumed by
dogs and humans (and presumably
by cats) in an optimum ratio for the ideal health benefits to be
active. Too much of one, not enough of
another, and the zoofamily will pay the price with less than optimum
health. The Iams Company has
pioneered Fatty Acid research in animals and they have found that
supplementing a diet with large amounts
of omega-3 fatty acids, for example, a diet with a nearly equal
ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids may
lead to health problems in dogs and cats. They have determined that
a higher amount of Omega 6 than
Omega 3, in a ratio of from between 5 to 1 or even 10 to 1, has the
optimum observable health effects.
Linoleic Acid (Omega 6) maintains skin and coat condition in dogs
and cats. Without enough linoleic acid
dogs and cats may experience dull, dry coat, hair loss, greasy skin
and increased susceptibility to skin
inflammation. Cats also require another fatty acid, arachidonic
acid, for normal skin and coat health.
Therefore, for cats Arachidonic Acid is an Essential Fatty Acid; as
mentioned earlier, dogs can make their
own from Omega 3 Fatty Acid.
Linolenic Acid (Omega 3) also act as an anti-inflammatory agent by
stimulating the production of certain
hormone-like substances prostaglandins. Omega-3s are found in all
wild animals but appear to be
somewhat deficient in domestic livestock such as beef cattle.
In humans, over 2,000 studies have been done on Omega 3 and their
effect on human and animal health. It
appears that sufficient amounts of Omega 3 can lower blood pressure,
reduce the clotting of blood platelets
and so reduce blood clots, and reduce abnormal heart beating
(arrhythmia).
|
day
spaying/neutering and educating pet owners regarding pet population
control. |
She’ll be a better dog if she
has pups.
