The importance of fish oils cannot be understated.  You have probably heard that having too much saturated fat in your diet is not healthy for you, but do you know why?  There are many reasons to strive for a healthy balance between saturated fat, Mono and polyunsaturated fats as well as Omega 3 fatty acids in your diet, and I am going to tell you just a couple of them.

Did you know that a 150 pound human body has approximately 100 Trillion cells and all of those cells must work together in order to promote life?  When we eat a diet high in saturated fats it makes the cell membranes more rigid and less flexible, affecting their ability to carry out cellular communication. By eating a diet with the proper balance of polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats we help our cell membranes to remain more fluid and more flexible.

A great example of why it is important that our cell membranes remain fluid is the relationship between fluid cell membranes and insulin sensitivity.  When our cells are rigid and tightly packed they often have a stronger resistance to insulin, which leads to higher concentration of insulin in the blood. When all that insulin can’t get into the cell where it is needed to break down the glucose from the foods we eat, it increases our risk for developing Type II Diabetes and pre-diabetes.

Another cool thing happens when we include dietary Omega-3 fats in our diets, especially when we get it from fish oils.  Fish oils can cause our cells to break down fat in a different part of the cell than normal.  When fat is broken down  in the Peroxisomes instead of the Mitochondrion it causes more fat to be broken down to produce the same amount of energy.  This means that more fat is burned to do the same daily activities. If you are trying to maintain a healthy body composition that can be very good news.