Eicosenoic acid is a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid. Like the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, eicosenoic acid is a healthy fat. It’s easily obtained in your diet through animal fat and vegetable oils, yet it’s not essential because your body makes it from other fats.
9-Eicosenoic Acid
Each fatty acid has several different names. The number 9 refers to eicosenoic acid being an omega-9 fatty acid, but 9-eicosenoic acid isn't its proper name. Its common name is eicosenoic acid. It also carries the lipid name 20:1 (n-9). The lipid name is based on its chemical structure of 20 total carbon atoms and one double bond that occurs at the ninth carbon atom. The lipid names are important to distinguish the six different omega-9 fatty acids. The lipid number is also used to identify the nutritional value in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Nutrient Data Laboratory.
Oils With 9-Eicosenoic Acid
A variety of different vegetable oils provide eicosenoic acid. The two that contain the highest amount are canola and peanut oil. Each one has 0.18 grams in one tablespoon of oil. The next best choice is high-oleic sunflower oil, which has 0.14 grams per tablespoon. Don’t confuse high-oleic sunflower oil with partially hydrogenated, or linoleic sunflower, oil, because the partially hydrogenated oil doesn’t have any eicosenoic acid. Watch for the same difference in safflower oil. High-oleic safflower oil has 0.04 grams per tablespoon, while there's no eicosenoic acid in partially hydrogenated safflower oil. The same serving of walnut oil has 0.05 grams, soybean and sesame oils have 0.03 grams, and corn oil has 0.02 grams of eicosenoic acid.
Health Benefits
The omega-9 fatty acids, including eicosenoic acid, lower your risk of cardiovascular disease, reduce cholesterol in your system and eliminate plaque buildup in your blood vessels. Fatty acids are also necessary to maintain a healthy nervous system and support cell structure. However, omega-9 fatty acids have a function that works in opposition with omega-3. Omega-3 is primarily anti-inflammatory, while omega-9 is primarily inflammatory. The inflammatory response is important for the healing process, but consuming too much omega-9, without enough omega-3 to balance it, can result in chronic, unhealthy inflammation leading to disease.
Considerations
Oleic acid -- lipid name 18:1 (n-9) -- is another omega-9 fatty acid that’s better known than eicosenoic acid because it’s found in much higher amounts in the same vegetable oils as eicosenoic acid. A new generation of vegetable oils is being developed to replace the oils that are high in unhealthy trans fats. These new oils replace trans fats with omega-9 fatty acids and are called high-oleic oils.
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