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So let's say I've been eating SBD (Standard British Diet :)) all my life and suddenly I start eating paleo with the appropriate omega 3:omega 6 ratio. How long do I have to wait before my body's fat ratio is as it should be?

UPDATE: In reality I've been eating, on and off, something quite close to the paleo diet for the past three years. I just posited a standard scenario for the sake of simplifying the question.

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 Finally my chance! Welcome! You mean then that your diet SUKD? – thhq Feb 8 2012 at 14:46
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 Haha! That's much better. Why didn't I think of that? – Coja Feb 8 2012 at 15:06
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 And if you eat the "paleo healthy" equivalent you're.... – thhq Feb 8 2012 at 16:44

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This reference suggests a turnover rate on adipose fat of 10-60% per year. So I'd guess it would take at least 2 years to replace your current fat.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3047582/

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THHQ, thanks for the link. That was very interesting. – PaleoGran Feb 8 2012 at 17:36
Cheers; that was the kind of info I need. – Coja Feb 13 2012 at 14:36
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cojadate,

I'm not sure anyone can answer this because it really depends on your diet. How much omega 3 is in your diet, how much omega 6 have you eliminated. And what was your omega 3 to 6 ratio before you started eating paleo. There are a lot of variables.

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I looked into this a while ago and I'm sorry to say I can't put my cursor on the actually studies I read but my understanding was that it could take years. The omegas are part of every cell membrane so a change to what is considered a good ratio (1:1 - 1:4) could take time. I read between 1-4 years.

Since testing is relatively expensive, I'm waiting until I hit the 18 month "paleo" mark next month to test. Based on the results, I might tweak my fish oil supplementation.

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