The American Heart Association recommends that at least 5-10% of calories should come from omega 6 fatty acids, as part of a hearth-healthy diet, according to a recently published science advisory.

Most Americans actually get enough of these oils in the foods they are currently eating, such as nuts, cooking oils and salad dressings, the advisory states. Recommended daily servings of omega 6 depend on physical activity level, age and gender, but range from 12 to 22 grams per day.

“Of course, as with any news about a single nutrient, it’s important to remember to focus on an overall healthy dietary pattern—one nutrient or one type of food isn’t a cure-all,” said William Harris, PhD, lead author of the advisory. “Our goal was simply to let Americans know that foods containing omega 6 fatty acids can be part of a healthy diet, and can even help improve your cardiovascular risk profile.”

The American Heart Association’s dietary recommendations suggest a broadly defined healthy eating pattern over time, with an emphasis on fruits, vegetables, high-fiber whole grains, lean meat, poultry and fish twice a week. Diets rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains have been associated in a large number of studies with reduced cardiovascular risk.

Linoleic acid (LA) is the main omega 6 fatty acid in foods, accounting for 85-90% of the dietary omega 6 PUFA.

The advisory reviewed a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials and more than 24 observational, cohort, case/control and ecological reports.

Observational studies showed that people who ate the most omega 6 fatty acids usually had the least heart disease. Other studies examined blood levels of omega 6 in heart patients compared with healthy people and found that patients with heart disease had lower levels of omega 6 in their blood.

In controlled trials in which researchers randomly assigned people to diets containing high versus low levels of omega 6 the group assigned to the higher omega 6 diets had less frequency of heart disease.

A meta-analysis of several trials also indicated that replacing saturated fats with PUFA lowered risk for heart disease events by 24%. “When saturated fat in the diet is replaced by omega 6 PUFA, the blood cholesterol levels go down,” Mr. Harris said. “This may be part of the reason why higher omega 6 diets are heart-healthy.”