Omega-6 fats aren't inherently bad. In white fat they can become inflammatory, but brown fat activated by cold converts them into protective molecules like 12,13-DiHOME. Your metabolic state determines whether these fats help or harm you.
One thing I've learned from nutrition social media is that people love to hate on omega-6 polyunsaturated fats, calling them inflammatory. But that overlooks the miraculously complex ways that our bodies process these fats into very different biomolecules. Let me give you just two opposite examples to prove the point. If you have excess fat tissue and obesity, that fat can produce an enzyme called myeloperoxidase, MPO, which can oxidize the omega-6 fats and trigger inflammation. Not good. But on the flip side, brown and beige fat, especially when exposed to cold can convert omega-6 fats into signaling lipids like 12,13-DiHOME, which actually fight metabolic stress and support cardiovascular health. So when you start mapping out all these factors, it gets pretty complicated pretty fast. Here's some proof. But the message is actually simple: you are not what you eat, you are what your body does with what you eat. And if you're overall metabolically healthier, your body tends to use what you give it in healthier ways.
