Nick NorwitzMD PhD, Oxford-Harvard | Metabolic Health Educator | “Stay Curious”

Balancing Omega-6 and Omega-3: The Secret to Living Longer

7 Sept 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:22

In this YouTube commentary, the speaker challenges the common belief that omega-6 fats are uniformly harmful. Citing a large prospective cohort study of over 85,000 participants followed for an average of 12.7 years, the speaker explains that while a high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio was associated with increased mortality, higher absolute blood levels of each fatty acid individually were linked to lower risk of death. Notably, participants with the highest concentrations of both omega-6 and omega-3 exhibited a 52% reduction in all‑cause mortality. The speaker interprets these findings as evidence that omega-6 fats are not inherently detrimental and that consuming both omega-3‑rich foods (e.g., salmon) and omega-6‑rich foods (e.g., walnuts) may be beneficial for longevity.

Chapters

You've heard it before: omega-3 are good, heart-healthy and brain-healthy. And omega-6 fats? Oh, they're bad, inflammatory, sinister, evil, right? Not so fast. I'm going to challenge that perspective. When researchers followed over 85,000 people for an average of 12.7 years, they found, yes, a high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio was linked to higher mortality. But here's the twist: when the scientists looked at omega-6 and omega-3 levels individually, they found higher levels of both were linked to better outcomes. That means, yes, high omega-6 levels in the blood were associated with reduced risk of death. And this is actually consistent with most of the literature, and it doesn't break math. A higher omega-6 to 3 ratio can be associated with more death, and a higher omega-6 level individually can be associated with less death if omega-3 has the stronger effect. So, eat your salmon, but don't fear walnuts either. In fact, the data even showed the beneficial relationships of omega-6 and omega-3, they compounded, with those having the highest level of both omega-6 and omega-3 in the blood exhibiting a 52% reduced risk of all-cause mortality. Death. Isn't that interesting?