> Print and Download Article

Most people think inflammation shows up as pain, swelling, or stiffness.
But inflammation usually starts long before you feel anything at all.

It begins quietly inside your cells, where your body constantly decides whether to turn inflammation off or keep it going. That decision is influenced by the types of fats built into your cell membranes, especially two omega-6 fats that are rarely discussed in everyday health conversations (1).

One of these fats helps the body calm and resolve inflammation once it has done its job (1,2).
The other helps drive inflammatory signals when the body senses stress, injury, or threat (3).

These two fats are called DGLA and AA.

• • DGLA (dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid) supports anti-inflammatory and inflammation-resolving signaling (1,2).
  • AA (arachidonic acid) supports pro-inflammatory signaling that activates and sustains inflammation when needed (3).

Both are necessary. Neither is bad.
What matters is how they balance each other.

That balance acts like a switch, helping determine whether inflammation shuts down when it should or remains elevated longer than it needs to (1,3). Even when standard blood work looks “normal,” this balance can reveal what is happening beneath the surface before symptoms appear (4).

If You’ve Never Heard of This Before, You’re Not Alone

If this is your first time hearing about the DGLA-to-AA ratio, that makes complete sense.

Most people have heard their physician discuss inflammation.
Very few have heard their physician discuss how inflammation actually turns off.

So, it’s natural to wonder,
“If inflammation matters so much, why has my doctor never mentioned this?”

The answer is not that your doctor missed something. Doctors are trained to identify diseases and manage symptoms. Researchers are trained to study mechanisms, what happens at the cellular level long before disease shows up (1,4).

The DGLA-to-AA ratio has primarily been studied in research and university settings, where scientists examine how inflammatory signals are generated, amplified, and resolved. It has not yet become part of routine medical conversations.

This article exists to bridge that gap.

How Inflammation Is Supposed to Work

Inflammation is not the enemy. It is part of normal healing and immune defense.

The problem arises when inflammation does not resolve.

When balance is present, inflammation is activated when needed, performs its function, and turns off (1). Cells recover, tissues repair, and the system resets.

When balance is lost, inflammatory signals linger. The body struggles to calm the response, even when the original trigger is gone. Over time, this unresolved inflammation becomes low-grade chronic inflammation, quietly influencing metabolism, blood vessels, joints, immune function, and brain health (3,5).

Chronic inflammation is increasingly understood as a failure of resolution, not simply too much inflammation (2,10).

Why the DGLA-to-AA Ratio Matters

The DGLA-to-AA ratio reflects how the body regulates inflammation over time, rather than whether inflammation is present at a single moment (1,3).

A healthier ratio suggests the body can:

• • Activate inflammation when appropriate
  • Resolve inflammation efficiently
  • Avoid prolonged inflammatory signaling (1,2)

A lower ratio suggests inflammation may be easier to trigger and harder to shut down, even when symptoms are absent (3,4).

This helps explain why someone can feel “fine” today while inflammation quietly continues for years.

What the DGLA-to-AA Ratio Is, How It’s Calculated, and What the Number Means

The DGLA-to-AA ratio compares two fats measured in your blood and incorporated into your cell membranes.

• • DGLA supports anti-inflammatory and resolution pathways
  • AA supports pro-inflammatory signaling

The ratio is calculated by the laboratory by simply:

Dividing DGLA by AA

For example:

• • DGLA = 1.5
  • AA = 15.0

1.5 ÷ 15.0 = 0.10

You never need to calculate this yourself. The lab reports the ratio for you.

What matters is how to interpret the number.

DGLA-to-AA Ratio Interpretation Guide

This ratio shows how your omega-6 fats are functioning inside your cells, not just how much fat you eat.

How to Think About These Ranges

• • A value at or above 0.15 suggests that the body has a strong ability to suppress inflammation.
  • A value between 0.10 and 0.14 suggests that inflammation may persist longer than expected.
  • A value below 0.10 suggests that pro-inflammatory signaling predominates, making inflammation more difficult to resolve.

This does not diagnose disease.
It indicates the direction in which your inflammatory environment is moving.

[Learn more about both the test and oil]

The Goal

Keep your DGLA-to-AA ratio above 0.15 to support an anti-inflammatory state and reduce the risk associated with unresolved, low-grade chronic inflammation.

CRP vs the DGLA-to-AA Ratio

In the United States and Canada, the inflammation marker most familiar to the public is C-reactive protein (CRP).

CRP tells you whether inflammation is present right now, often after damage has already begun.

CRP answers the question:

“Is inflammation happening?”

The DGLA-to-AA ratio answers a different and more powerful question:

“Can my body shut inflammation off once it starts?”

This is why someone can have a normal CRP and still be on a trajectory toward chronic inflammation and chronic disease (4,7).

Why Acting Early Matters More Than Waiting for Disease

Low-grade chronic inflammation does not suddenly appear at diagnosis.

It develops slowly, often over years, as inflammation is repeatedly activated without full resolution. Over time, this creates the biological environment in which chronic disease develops.

Research shows that unresolved inflammation precedes cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, neurodegenerative disease, autoimmune conditions, and many cancers (7–9).

By the time the disease is diagnosed, inflammation has often been active for years.

The Good News: This Can Be Tested at Home

This type of fatty-acid-based inflammation testing is conducted through Vitas, a research-grade laboratory whose methods are used by leading universities, medical research institutions, and large population studies worldwide (6).

That same level of testing is now available through a simple at-home finger-prick blood sample.

A New Standard for Proactive Health

For decades, people have been taught to wait until something breaks before taking action.

But chronic disease does not begin at diagnosis.
It begins when inflammation no longer turns off efficiently.

We now have the ability to identify this early and take action before inflammation becomes chronic and damaging.

That is the movement this information supports.

Final Takeaway

Inflammation is not just about pain or lab markers.
It is about balance, timing, and resolution.

The DGLA-to-AA ratio shows whether inflammation is turning off or staying on.

Seeing that early changes everything.

Your Next Step

To learn more about the at-home inflammation test and score, contact the person who shared this article with you.

You can also email robert@dietfreelife.com or schedule a free consultation to learn more about the test and the variety of programs available to support inflammation balance and long-term health.

References

1. 1. Harizi, H., & Gualde, N. (2006). Dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid as a regulator of immune responses. Trends in Immunology, 27(6), 315–320.
   2. Calder, P. C. (2015). Functional roles of fatty acids and their effects on human health. Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, 39(1_suppl), 18S–32S.
   3. Schmitz, G., & Ecker, J. (2008). The opposing effects of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids. Progress in Lipid Research, 47(2), 147–155.
   4. Inoue, K., Kishimoto, Y., Nakajima, Y., et al. (2017). Dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid to arachidonic acid ratio and mortality risk. Lipids in Health and Disease, 16, 1–9.
   5. Simopoulos, A. P. (2016). Omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio and chronic disease. Nutrients, 8(3), 128.
   6. Stark, K. D., et al. (2016). Global survey of omega-3 fatty acids in dried blood spots. Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids, 115, 1–9.
   7. Furman, D., et al. (2019). Chronic inflammation in the etiology of disease across the life span. Nature Medicine, 25(12), 1822–1832.
   8. Hotamisligil, G. S. (2006). Inflammation and metabolic disorders. Nature, 444(7121), 860–867.
   9. Libby, P. (2002). Inflammation in atherosclerosis.
   10. Calder, P. C., et al. (2017). Inflammatory disease processes and resolution. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 76(4), 362–376.

__________
Robert Ferguson is a California- and Florida-based single father of two daughters, clinical nutritionist, Omega Balancing Coach™, researcher, best-selling author, speaker, podcast and television host, health advisor, NAACP Image Award Nominee, creator of the Diet Free Life methodology, and Chief Nutrition Officer for iCoura Health. He also serves on the Presidential Task Force on Obesity for the National Medical Association and the Health and Product Advisory Board for Zinzino, Inc.

🗓️ Schedule a FREE consultation with Robert Ferguson about becoming a client: SCHEDULE FREE CONSULTATION

👉🏽 To order the BalanceOil+ with the BalanceTEST, > CLICK HERE

👉🏽 Watch a free online presentation on the BalanceOil+ and the BalanceTEST: WATCH NOW.