Fats and veg­etable oils play a piv­otal role in our nu­tri­tion. They strengthen our im­mune sys­tem, sup­ply us with en­ergy and are an im­por­tant com­po­nent of cell mem­branes. Fats are also car­ri­ers of the li­posol­u­ble vi­t­a­mins A, D, E and K.

There are dif­fer­ent types of fatty acids in nu­tri­tion: sat­u­rated fatty acids (SFAs), mo­noun­sat­u­rated fatty acids (MUFAs), polyun­sat­u­rated fatty acids (PUFAs) and harm­ful trans fatty acids (TFAs), also known as solid fats, which should be avoided. The healthy fatty acids found in veg­etable oils are the longer the more in focus.

Com­bi­na­tion is key

In order to max­imise the ben­e­fits of veg­etable oils in our bod­ies, they need to be pro­duced in a gen­tle process and com­bined in­tel­li­gently. En­sur­ing the right bal­ance of dif­fer­ent fats and oils in our diet con­tributes to avoid cer­tain health risks such as heart dis­ease and keeps us fit, slim and healthy. Ger­man, Aus­trian and Swiss nu­tri­tion as­so­ci­a­tions all rec­om­mend that fats should ac­count for a max­i­mum of 30% of the daily calo­rie in­take of adults: 10 per cent through sat­u­rated fats, 10 per cent through mo­noun­sat­u­rated fats and 10 per cent through polyun­sat­u­rated fats. Sim­i­lar ref­er­ence val­ues (1) apply in Great Britain, Scan­di­navia, France and the Nether­lands.

Un­sat­u­rated, es­sen­tial fatty acids are es­pe­cially im­por­tant for our health. They are classed as es­sen­tial be­cause our bod­ies can­not pro­duce them in­de­pen­dently. Un­sat­u­rated fatty acids are par­tic­u­larly healthy be­cause they build fur­ther chem­i­cal com­pounds. They be­come sat­u­rated, for in­stance, bind­ing free rad­i­cals and mak­ing them harm­less for the body. The fatty acids that are es­sen­tial for the human body in­clude Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids in par­tic­u­lar. The Omega-3 group in­cludes the fatty acids DHA (do­cosa­hexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicos­apen­taenoic acid), which are both found in oily fish and algae, as well as ALA (alpha-linolenic acid or α-linolenic acid), a com­po­nent of veg­etable oils.

Omega-3 fatty acids: healthy for heart and brain

Sci­en­tists have long been in­ter­ested in the Omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA that are mainly found in fish. A re­cent study has shown that both fatty acids min­imise the risk of car­dio­vas­cu­lar dis­ease and sud­den car­diac ar­rest (2). The Omega-3 fatty acids also com­bat coro­nary artery dis­eases (3), re­duce blood lipids, im­prove cir­cu­la­tion and re­duce blood clots (3). The focus on Omega-3 fatty acids has in­creased in the light of the pos­i­tive ef­fects they have shown on brain func­tion, in­tel­lec­tual ca­pac­ity and so­cial be­hav­iour. A pilot study in Sin­ga­pore has in­di­cated that Omega-3 fatty acids may im­prove the in­ter­ac­tion of autis­tic chil­dren with the world around them (4).

Over­fish­ing of the oceans has led to a change of ap­proach and healthy veg­etable oils are gain­ing in im­por­tance on ac­count of their valu­able Omega-3 ALA fatty acid con­tent. Sci­en­tific stud­ies show­ing the pos­i­tive ef­fects of veg­etable Omega-3 fatty acid on coro­nary health (5, 6) are in­creas­ingly com­mon­place. An ALA-rich diet might re­duce the risk of car­dio­vas­cu­lar dis­ease by as much as 10 per cent (7).

We now as­sume that the human or­gan­ism con­verts up to 6 per cent of the amount of ALA con­sumed into EPA and 3.8 per cent into DHA (8). We can only ben­e­fit from these pos­i­tive con­ver­sion val­ues if we do not con­sume too many Omega-6 fatty acids at the same time. Al­though Omega-6 fatty acids have a pos­i­tive in­flu­ence on cho­les­terol lev­els, they still com­pete with the Omega-3 fatty acids and im­pede the syn­the­sis of ALA to EPA and DHA. Ger­many, Switzer­land, Aus­tria, Canada and Aus­tralia (8, 9) there­fore all rec­om­mend that the ratio of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids should not ex­ceed 5:1.

Healthy liv­ing with veg­etable oils

A Mediter­ranean diet, rich in oleic acid and ALA, sig­nif­i­cantly re­duces dis­eases of the coro­nary ar­ter­ies. This was demon­strated by the find­ings of the Lyon study (10, 11) and the PER­IMED study (12). The re­sults were so clear that the PER­IMED study was com­pleted early, five years after its launch. The car­dio­vas­cu­lar risk was re­duced by 30 per cent for the test group that adopted a Mediter­ranean diet. Over time, the ben­e­fits of this kind of diet may prove even greater than those shown by the study re­sults.

Veg­etable oils, such as olive oil, nut oils and rape­seed oil are all com­pat­i­ble with a Mediter­ranean diet. Lin­seed oil is not com­mon in Mediter­ranean cook­ing, but it does con­tain a high pro­por­tion of ALA. If you are look­ing for a good ratio be­tween Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, you can find this in wheat germ oil and wal­nut oil, for in­stance. Nuts, in par­tic­u­lar, have known pre­ven­tive prop­er­ties with re­gard to heart dis­ease and some forms of can­cer (13). Vir­tu­ally all veg­etable oils have spe­cific ben­e­fits if we use them cor­rectly. Saf­flower and apri­cot oils have a very high vi­t­a­min E con­tent, whereas prim­rose and jo­joba oils re­duce in­flam­ma­tion. These four oils are also very kind to the skin and are there­fore used fre­quently in the cos­met­ics in­dus­try.

100 g VIOGERM® wheat germ meets a large proportion of the daily requirement of folic acid and other vitamins and nutrients that are essential to life.

 Further Information

• Article "What are saturated and unsaturated fatty acids"

Sources
1) ESFA, Journal 2010: 8(3):1461
2) A Wagner et al: Omega-3 index levels and associated factors in a middle-aged French population: the MONA LISA-NUT Study. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 69, 436-441 (April 2015) | doi:10.1038/ejcn.2014.219
3) Omega-3-Fettsäuren: Schutz vor Schlaganfall und Infarkt. Pharmazeutische Zeitung, Ausgabe 04/2004.
4) Y P Ooi et al: Omega-3 fatty acids in the management of autism spectrum disorders: findings from an open-label pilot study in Singapore.
5) Campos H et al: Alpha-linolenic acid and risk of nonfatal acute myocardial infarction. Circulation 2008; 118(4): 339-345.
6) Skeaff CM et al: Dietary fat and coronary heart disease: summary of evidence from prospective cohort and randomised controlled trials. Ann Nutr Metab 2009; 55(1-3): 173-201.
7) Geleijnse JM et al : Alpha-linolenic acid: is it essential to cardiovascular health? Curr Atheroscler Rep 2010;12:359–67.
8) www.ufop.de 
9) Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung; Schweizerisches Bundesamt für Lebensmittelsicherheit und Veterinärwesen BLV.
10) Lorgeril M et al. Mediterranean diet, traditional risk factors, and the rate of cardiovascular complications after myocardial infarction: final report of the Lyon Diet Heart Study. Circulation. 1999;99:779-785.
11) Kris-Etherton P et al. AHA Science Advisory: Lyon Diet Heart Study. Benefits of a Mediterranean style. National Cholesterol Education Program/American Heart Association Step I dietary pattern on cardiovascular disease. Circulation. 2001;103:1823-1825.
12) http://predimed.onmedic.net 
13) Giuseppe Grosso et al: Nut consumption on all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, first published February 4, 2015, doi: 10.3945/ajcn.114.099515