Linoleic acid

[dime]

Linoleic acid (an omega 6) along with linolenic acid (omega 3) are considered essential fatty acids. The RDA per day is
- linoleic: 17g
- linolenic: 1.6g

Any thoughts on whether this is optimal and if the body really requires that much linoleic to function properly?
This RDA goes a bit against the advice that the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 should be between 1 and 4 which is what confuses me.

[RRM]

Linoleic acid in % (Wai foods only)
57.8% walnut oil
34.1% walnuts
24.9% Brazil nuts
8.1% olive oil
6.3% hazelnuts
4.2% turkey (adult)
3.8% egg yolks
2.6% lamb-subcutaneous fat
2.0% avocado
1.8% beef-subcutaneous fat
1.7% coconut oil
1.3% macadamia nuts
1.1% chicken breast
0.4% salmon
0.3% tuna
0.2% mackerel

the RDA is 17g.

You will get 7.9 grams of linoleic acid from just one tablespoon of walnut oil.
1 avocado contains 3.4 g. linoleic acid.
A handful of Brazil nuts (35 grams) contains 8.7 g. linoleic acid.

This RDA goes a bit against the advice that the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 should be between 1 and 4 which is what confuses me.

That doesnt have to be the case, because linoleic acid is just one of the omega 6 fats.
You may very well ingest 17 g. linoleic acid and 1.6 g LNA and still adhere to the overall 'at least 1:4 ratio'. (1 omega 3 vs maximally 4 omega 6)

[dime]

Adipose fat tissue in men is between 8.6% (Poland) and 16.7% (Belgium) linoleic acid, so there's quite some reserves in case one is not ingesting the recommended 17g/day (Seidell et al.). The percentage of linoleic acid in adipose fat depends somewhat on the percentage in the diet.