Essential Fatty Acids

Essential Fatty Acids are the building blocks of our bodies’ fats and membranes. They were originally known as Vitamin F.

Your body cannot manufacture EFA’s on its own so they must be gotten from your diet and/or from supplements. Good dietary sources of EFA’s are fresh wild salmon, sardines, and walnuts. Eat them twice a week. Try adding ground flax seeds to your salads. Supplemental sources are fish oil, cod liver oil, salmon oil, and flax oil. Take 2 tbsp. daily.

EFA’s help reduce inflammation, improve eczema and psoriasis, ease depression and anxiety, keep us hydrated and supple, and make our skin youthful and glowing!

Lack of Essential Fatty Acids results in EFAD – Essential Fatty Acid Deficiency.
EFAD can cause several problems with your skin, most notably, excess keratinization or a build up of dead skin cells which causes your skin to look dull and flakey. Micro-comedones and hyperpigmentation can also result from EFAD.

Lack of essential fatty acids in your skin increases the amount of water that evaporates from your skin (trans-epidermal water loss – TEWL). Increased TEWL results in less water in the skin which impairs the enzyme activity needed to desquamate or exfoliate dead skin cells. And impaired desquamation means more dead skin cells stuck to the outer epidermal layer (keratinization), as well as dead skin cells getting stuck in the pores and follicles causing micro-comedones.

EFA’s contain Omega 3 which helps restore collagen and elastin in the dermis, and Omega 6 which helps restore parts of the epidermis.