Flaxseed

The best sources of linoleic and linolenic acids is flax or linseed oil. The body can use all types of fat as its largest source of energy. They provide nine calories per gram. Fats and oils are all composed of fatty acids. A fatty acid consists of a fat bit and an acid bit, as the name suggests. Itc chemical make-up is a carbon chain made of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Different fatty acids have different length chains. Unsaturated fats such as flaxseed oils are highly biologically active. These unsaturated fats provide the cell membranes of every cell of the body. These fatty acids are also used in exclusive ways in the brain, inner ear, eyes, adrenal glands, and of course sex organs. In these very active tissues, special fats are essential for the high level of oxygen use and energy transformation required for optimum performance. Without these certain fats you would become very quickly ill and then die. With a substandard supply of these fats you can never hope to reach any form of optimal athletic condition.

Your body actually has the ability, through double bonds, to lengthen fatty acid chains or shorten them to make many useful fatty acid combinations. However, there are two very essential fats that your body cannot produce in any way. They have to be consumed through the diet. The two fatty acids that cannot be manufactured are linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid (18 carbon chains). These are in fact all the dietary fats an athlete will need.