[1] Closely related, these fatty acids act as competing substrates for the same enzymes.
"[6] Science writer Susan Allport writes that the current ratio in Japan is associated with a very low incidence of heart and other diseases.
"[6][clarification needed] In a study with rats, a dietary ratio of 4:1 showed significant favorable effects on learning performance and pain tolerance compared to 6:1.
[7] Andrew Stoll, M.D., Director of the Psycho-pharmacology Research Laboratory at Harvard's McLean Hospital, who advocates the consumption of the two fats in a 1:1 ratio, states, "Once in the body, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids follow parallel pathways, continually competing with each other for chemical conversion to various structures and molecules inside and outside the cells.
"[8] Both Stoll and Allport assert that present-day diets in the developed world have departed dramatically from this ratio.