The Common Polyunsaturate - Linoleic Acid - The Omega-6 EFA (Second of 4)

LA is the key Omega-6 fatty acid. It's easy to get from a wide range of vegetable sources, so if you're already health-conscious you probably get more than the minimum you need for health -- in fact, you may get too much for good health!

Go for almost anything natural marked as polyunsaturated and you'll almost certainly be eating an LA-rich food. Foods particularly rich in it are any containing these oils:
Corn Cottonseed Grapeseed Hemp Soybean SunflowerThey're all 50%+ LA. Just don't go fanatic and overdose! Oils are bad for you in large amounts. You need only about a tablespoon of LA a day, under 20 grams, which is 2 tablespoons of the oils above. And a lot of other oils and manufactured foods you'll be eating contain a little LA -- it all adds up. Also note that if you eat much more Omega-6 than Omega-3, you'll run the risk of Omega-3 deficiency as your extraction enzymes are swamped with the Omega-6. See the next article in this series for more.

Refined oils

If the oil is refined (it will say if it's not, and most of these oils must be refined to extract the oil or kill bad flavors) then expect there to be less LA and more toxic refinery by-products. Keep away from cottonseed oil; from the huge use of pesticides cotton needs, there are toxic elements in it: not much, but enough if you value clean foods. Corn oil is only 4% in the cob. It has to be solvent extracted: do you like eating dry cleaning fluid? It's hard to totally remove it. 

Using LA-rich oils

You can use the oils any way you like except for frying (sort of OK if it's refined), as this destroys a lot of the essential fatty acids. Try adding it to soups, stews, hashes and curries, or using it in a salad dressing. Coconut, olive and palm oil are mostly mono-unsaturated and have little LA; they're better for frying.

Now you have to look at your diet and try to decide if you're eating too little or too much LA for good health, and make your own correction. In common Western diets, it could be either, though most people overdose on Omega-6. 

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