Fatty acid ratios

These are various ratios between the fatty acids found in your red blood cell phospholipids. All these numbers can be found on the results of your OmegaQuant Complete test. Make sure to get the "Complete" one, as the others won't list all the fatty acids required for these calculations.

Omega Balance

Omega Balance is a concept coined by Anthony Hulbert in his book of the same name, which I've reviewed here.

It's similar to the omega-6:omega-3 ratio, but expressed as a percentage instead: the percentage of omega-3 fats to the total polyunsaturated fats (omega-3 + omega-6). A good Omega Balance in Omega Quant tests is considered to be anything above 15%, with many of the long-time PUFA avoiders being over 20%.

Omega Balance can be heavily influenced in the short-term by consumption of fatty fish like salmon or sardines, or by fish oil supplementation. A healthy person who is at ancestral levels of linoleic acid intake & adipose tissue should have a good Omega Balance even without any fish intake. Read my review of the book

D5D

- Delta-5-desaturase

Delta-5-desaturase, also called FADS1 (fatty acid desaturase 1), is an enzyme that converts dihomo-y-linolenic acid (20:3 ω-6) into arachidonic acid (20:4 ω-6) by adding a double bond at the 5 position. Calculating the ratio of its output (AA) divided by its input (DGLA) can be used as a measurement of its activity level. Read more on Wikipedia

D6D

- Delta-6-desaturase

Delta-6-desaturase (also known as linoleoyl-CoA desaturase) is an enzyme that converts linoleic acid (18:2 ω-6) into gamma-linolenic acid (18:3 ω-6) by adding a double bond at the 6 position. Calculating the ratio of its output (GLA) divided by its input (LA) can be used as a measurement of its activity level. Read more on Wikipedia

D9D

- Delta-9-desaturase / SCD1 / DI18

Delta-9-desaturase, also called SCD1 (stearyol-CoA-desaturase 1) or DI18 (desaturase index 18), is an enzyme that converts the saturated fatty acids stearic acid (18:0) and palmitic acid (16:0) into the monounsaturated oleic acid (20:4 ω-6) by adding a double bond at the 9 position. Calculating the ratio of its output (OA) divided by its input (SA) can be used as a measurement of its activity level. Read more on Wikipedia

DNL

- De Novo Lipogenesis

Defined as palmitic acid (16:0) over linoleic acid (18:2 ω-6), DNL measures how much fat your body is generating.

Summary

  • Omega Balance: -
  • D5D: -
  • D6D: -
  • D9D: -
  • DNL: -