Why Is the Balance of Fats in Your Diet Making You More Inflamed — and What Can a Plant Omega-3 Do About It?

Blog 4 of 4  ·  myMind™ Ingredient Series

Keywords: ALA omega-3 anti-inflammatory, alpha-linolenic acid midlife, plant omega-3 inflammation, flaxseed omega-3, ALA essential fatty acid

Here is something worth knowing about the modern diet: the ratio of fats most of us eat is almost certainly wrong — and it is quietly driving a process of inflammation that affects how we feel, how we think, and how we age.

This isn't about eating too much fat. It's about which fats, and in what balance.

Our bodies need two types of essential fatty acids — omega-6 and omega-3 — that we can only get from food. For most of human history, we consumed these in a roughly equal balance. Today, the average Western diet contains somewhere between 15 and 20 times more omega-6 than omega-3.

That imbalance matters. Because omega-6 fatty acids, when they dominate, push the body towards a pro-inflammatory state. And omega-3 fatty acids — including ALA — push back.

What exactly is ALA — and why does it matter?

Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is a plant-sourced omega-3 fatty acid found in flaxseeds, walnuts, chia seeds, and hemp seeds. It is classified as essential, meaning the body cannot produce it at all — you must get it from food or supplementation.

ALA is the starting point of the omega-3 pathway in the body. It is the raw material from which the body builds other important fatty acids involved in regulating inflammation, cell health, and normal body function. Most people in the West don't get nearly enough of it.

How does ALA actually help reduce inflammation?

The anti-inflammatory effect of ALA works through a simple but powerful mechanism: competition.

Both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids use the same chemical pathways in the body. When omega-6 dominates — as it does in most modern diets — the body produces more pro-inflammatory molecules. These aren't inherently harmful; they serve a purpose. But when produced in excess, without adequate omega-3s to balance them, the result is a chronic low-level inflammatory state that can affect the brain, the joints, the cardiovascular system, and overall wellbeing.

ALA shifts this balance. By increasing the body's omega-3 levels, ALA competes directly with the omega-6 pathway — reducing the production of inflammatory molecules and helping restore a healthier equilibrium.

Several population studies support this. Higher dietary ALA intake has been associated with lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) — one of the most widely used markers of inflammation in the body — and with lower overall inflammatory load (Sala-Vila & Hu, 2022; Chilton et al., 2017).

What balance have most of us lost — and why?

For most of human history, the omega-6 to omega-3 balance was maintained naturally through diets rich in wild plants, seeds, and fish. The shift to processed vegetable oils in the 20th century quietly flooded modern diets with omega-6, while omega-3 intake stayed flat or fell.

The result is not that we eat too much of one fat. It's that the ratio has become wildly out of proportion. And ratios, once disrupted at a systemic level, have systemic consequences.

Restoring that balance — through consistent omega-3 intake, including ALA — is one of the most straightforward nutritional steps available for reducing inflammatory load over time.

What does the evidence show — and what doesn't it show?

ALA's strongest evidence is for its role in supporting the body's fatty acid balance and reducing inflammatory markers — both well-established (Sala-Vila & Hu, 2022). As an essential fatty acid, adequate ALA intake is necessary for the body's omega-3 pathway to function at all.

Emerging research suggests that higher doses of ALA may support verbal fluency in older adults (Ogawa et al., 2023). ALA  provides is foundational: helping restore the omega-3 side of a ratio that most adults have significantly out of balance.

What's the takeaway on ALA and inflammation?

Most people don't think about plant omega-3s unless someone mentions fish oil. But the anti-inflammatory case for ALA is grounded in something more fundamental than a single supplement benefit.

It's about a ratio that has been out of balance for decades, and the quiet, systemic effect that imbalance has on the body's inflammatory environment. ALA helps restore it. Not dramatically. Not overnight. But consistently — and at a level that matters for long-term health.

myMind™ includes plant-sourced ALA (alpha-linolenic acid from flaxseed) as part of its six-ingredient formula, contributing to the body's essential omega-3 fatty acid balance.