omega-6 fatty acid

omega-6 fatty acid

n.

Any of several polyunsaturated fatty acids, including linoleic acid, that are essential for human metabolism and are found in poultry, nuts, beans, and vegetable oils such as canola and soybean oil. Increasing dietary intake of omega-6 fatty acids can decrease LDL cholesterol levels in the bloodstream.

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[So called because the first double bond in the chain of carbon atoms in such fatty acids is found between the sixth and seventh atoms when counted from the omega end of the chain.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

omega-6 fatty acid - a polyunsaturated fatty acid whose carbon chain has its first double valence bond six carbons from the beginning omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid - an unsaturated fatty acid whose carbon chain has more than one double or triple valence bond per molecule; found chiefly in fish and corn and soybean oil and safflower oil linolenic acid - a liquid polyunsaturated fatty acid that occurs in some plant oils; an essential fatty acid

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