When embarking on a diet, most people make the decision to cut out many foods that are considered unhealthy, such as refined carbohydrates, high calorie foods and fats. However, in order to eliminate excess body fat, you need to make sure youre eating enough of the right fats. While its true that some fats are not good for you, others are absolutely essential for losing weight and maintaining a healthy diet. While the body can transform carbohydrates and proteins into saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, it cannot produce certain polyunsaturated fats. These fats that the body cannot produce are called essential fatty acids (EFAs), and they must be obtained from the food that we eat

EFAs actually help the body to dissolve fat. So to cut out foods high in them is like cutting out fat-burning agents!

What are Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)?

EFAs are classed into two groups: omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are needed by the body to keep the heart, eyes and brain healthy, and omega-6 fatty acids are needed to keep cells, skin, the blood and immune system healthy.

Essential Fatty Acids, otherwise known as Omega 3 and Omega 6 Fatty Acids, are polyunsaturated fatty acids found in the oil from oily fish and vegetable sources such as flax seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, olive oil and canola oil.

Both types of EFAs are required for the production of the eicosanoids hormones that are responsible for regulating the major body functions, including digestion, insulin production and the storage of fat.

How Omega-3 Fatty Acids Aids Weight Loss

It has now been proven scientifically that Omega-3 fatty acids help you lose weight. Studies at the University of South Australia have found that taking omega-3 fish oil combined with moderate aerobic exercise boosts weight loss.

Over a period of 12 weeks, researchers gave a group of obese adults daily doses of omega-3 fish oil and supervised moderate aerobic exercise three times a week. The researches compared the results of this group with other groups that were not given omega-3 fish oil and exercise three times a week.

The group that had the omega-3 fish oil lost significantly more weight, particularly around the abdominal region, than the people who had not been given the omega-3 fish oil and exercise.

They concluded that Omega-3 fatty acids in the fish oil activates the enzymes responsible for burning fat, and combined with exercise and increased oxygen intake, they increase the metabolic rate, which has an effect of burning more fat and losing weight.

Warning About Fish Oil

Many reports have indicated that commercial fish can be harmful to peoples health, in particular the health of young children and women of childbearing age. This is because certain fish contain high levels of contaminants such as mercury and methyl mercury that can damage the nervous system of an unborn child or young child. These toxins can also be transferred into fish oil and fish oil capsules.

It is possible to get the same weight loss benefits from vegetable sources of omega-3 fatty acids, without the toxins. Eating a diet rich in olive oil, canola oil, and rapeseed oil, nuts, avocado and soy will give you the omega-3 fatty acids your body needs to help you lose weight, without any of the associated health risks.