An imbalance of two healthy fats affects your early death risk, study finds [Video]

Eating enough healthy fats is great for brain and heart health, but new research has possibly provided even more evidence for adding them, particularly omega-3s, to your diet.

“We found that a higher omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is associated with a greater risk of dying,” said Yuchen Zhang, lead author of the April study published in the journal eLife, in a news release. Zhang is a doctoral student in the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health.

Omega-3 fatty acids are naturally found in foods including fish — especially fatty fish such as salmon, tuna and sardines — as well as flaxseed, walnuts, chia seeds and in dietary supplements such as fish oil.

The three main omega-3 fatty acids are alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA; eicosapentaenoic acid, or EPA; and docosahexaenoic acid, known as DHA, according to the National Institutes of Health. The body must obtain all …