Are Eicosanoids Behind The Mysterious Ways We Feel, Think and Act?

We produce eicosanoids from Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids, or oils. There are omega 3 and omega 6 derived essential fatty acids eicosanoids. If we eat food with ratios of omega 6 to omega 3 close to a 1 to 1, we are in balance. That is close to what the ideal ratio should be.

These eicosanoids are constantly forming in our cells and have a very short life. They can not be stored or supplied from the outside, in form of drugs.

Types of Eicosanoids

We have good and bad eicosanoids. Really they are neither good neither bad. They are called this way when made from omega 3 or omega 6, respectively. They counteract each other in such a way that when omega 6 eicosanoids are, for example, pro inflammatory, if there is enough omega 3 to produce the balancing amounts of anti-inflammatory omega 3 eicosanoids, there is balance.

• Inflammation, pro and anti inflammation. Important to many diseases like heart disease, arthritis,. asthma, etc.
• Blood vessel contraction and or dilation.
• Immune response.
• Cell proliferation. Very important in cancer.
• Mood control, depression or anxiety.
• Blood viscosity.
• Coagulation
• Lipid balance. Cholesterol, triglycerides.
• Pain and fever.

We can see very clearly how important is to have a balance of good and bad eicosanoids. For example, we don’t want to have too much blood clotting that could make us prone to heart attacks. Neither do we want to have very little clotting, in case we have an accident.

The same happens with the other eicosanoids, a good balance is crucial. We can see now what goes on in our body when we eat pasta, breads, cakes, corn oil, etc. They are all full of omega 6. Since the vegetables we eat already have omega 6 in proper amounts, when we overdose on omega 6 rich foods, as we do in our modern diets, day after day, we become sick. For more see my page on Omega 3 benefits.

This eicosanoids balance affects EVERY function of our body:

• Our feelings.
• Our thoughts
• Our behavior.
• The speed at what we age.

Degenerative diseases, like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, accelerated aging, etc. are driven by this important balance in the omega 6 to omega 3 ratio.

What Can We Do?

As we have said earlier, in order to bring the omega 6 levels down, we have to try to avoid all sugar, grains and grain oils in our diet. To increase the omega 3, you should take omega 3 supplements, or omega 3 pills. For more see my page on Omega 3 Dosage .

Exercise every day to bring insulin down and get all the benefits exercise can bring. For more see my page on Fish Oil and Exercise .

Another type of healthy fat is omega 9. You should try to increase it to improve your general wellbeing. You can find omega 9 in olive oil, avocados and nuts. For more information see my page What is Omega 3?


On this Metabolic Pathways page we have covered what the essential fatty acids eicosanoids are, the bad and good eicosanoids, the different functions these eicosanoids have in the body, how they affect the way we think, feel, behave and age, the healthy omega 9 we want, and what we can do to improve the omega 6 to omega 3 balance.

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