Essential fatty acid

An essential fatty acid is a fatty acid humans must obtain from food because they cannot synthesize it adequately. The two essential fatty acids are linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid.

Linoleic acid: An omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid that humans must obtain from food. It is one of the two essential fatty acids in human nutrition.
Fatty acid desaturase: An enzyme that introduces a double bond into a fatty-acid chain. Human desaturases cannot create the double-bond positions found in the two dietary essentials.
Dietary reference intake: A set of nutrient-intake standards used to assess and plan diets. These standards include recommended intakes for linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids.
Nonessential fatty acid: A fatty acid the body can synthesize in amounts that generally meet its needs. Unlike essential fatty acids, it does not normally require a dietary supply.
Alpha-linolenic acid: An omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid that humans must obtain from food. It is the other essential fatty acid in human nutrition.
Elongase: An enzyme that lengthens a fatty-acid chain by adding two-carbon units. Elongation helps convert dietary essential fatty acids into longer products.
Dietary fat: Fat consumed in foods, consisting chiefly of triglycerides and their fatty acids. Food fats are the practical source of essential fatty acids.
Conditionally essential amino acid: An amino acid that must be obtained from food in certain physiological or disease states. It illustrates conditional dietary necessity, unlike the constant requirement for essential fatty acids.
Polyunsaturated fatty acid: A fatty acid containing two or more carbon–carbon double bonds. Both essential fatty acids belong to this broader structural class.
Arachidonic acid: A long-chain omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid synthesized from linoleic acid. It is a downstream product of the omega-6 essential precursor.

Linked from 17 pages