The popular idea today is that omega-3 fats such as fish and flax oils are antidotes for depression. The truth is that there are many healthy, natural fats that work this way. Fats such as organic butter from grass-fed animals, unrefined coconut oil, and extra virgin olive oil help stabilize blood sugar while they enhance mental function and improve mood.
Fats are vitally important for neurological function and mood. The low-fat diet craze of recent years has done no favors for our brains or our emotional well-being. Like organic animal protein, fats provide substance and sustenance to deal with daily stress and emotional trauma.
One way to appreciate the vital role that fats play in neurological health is to consider the ketogenic diet, a medical dietary therapy that is sometimes used in hospitals for people with neurological disorders. The diet calls for 80% of calories to come from high-quality fats, such as organic butter, ghee, unrefined coconut oils, extra virgin olive oil, and fish oils. Such quality fats help to protect both the myelin lining of the central nervous system and also the brain, which is mostly fat and cholesterol.
The high-fat ketogenic diet is used especially for children and the elderly. It is a quick remedy for nervous system disorders that may stem from reactions to vaccines. It can also be used for neurological issues such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s Disease. Some scientists believe that a high-fat diet can actually help repair the myelin lining around the nerves that are affected by a variety of chronic neurological diseases.
More evidence for the role of fats in mental health comes from the most recent, Winter 2008 issue of Wise Traditions, published by the Weston Price Foundation. In The Pursuit of Happiness: How Nutrient-dense Animal Fats Promote Mental and Emotional Health, Chris Masterjohn states, “Modern science has now elucidated the role of nutrient-dense animal fats in preventing mental illness and supporting the focused, goal-oriented behavior needed to confront challenges and pursue a happy, satisfying, and successful life.” Source: Health Counselor, Carol Kenney www.pathways4health.com.
Showing posts with label omega 3's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label omega 3's. Show all posts
Friday, January 30, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Queen of Fats Susan Allport
What exactly are omega-3s?
Omega-3s are one of two families of essential fats, which are fats we cannot make ourselves and must consume in our diets. The omega-3s originate in green leaves (of all places), and they compete with a second family of essential fats, omega-6s, fats that are much more prevalent in the seeds of plants, for positions in every cell in our body.
We’ve been taught to think of all these fats, the polyunsaturates, as one big happy family. But in fact they are two competing families with very different effects on our bodies. Omega-3s speed up the activity of cells; omega-6s slow it down. Omega-3s create little to no inflammation; omega-6s create a lot of inflammation. A balance of these two families, in our diets and our tissues, produces just the right amount of activity and inflammation and leads to optimal health.
How have omega-3s been removed from the Western Diet
Let me back up a moment and talk about where omega-3s are found and then it will be easy to see how they’ve been removed. Omega-3s originate in the green leaves of plants, not fish, as most people think. They accumulate in the tissues of animals that eat green leaves, including fish, but they originate in the chlorplasts of green leaves. A second family fats, omega-6s, are much more prevalent in the seeds of plants. Omega-6s are also essential for health but they compete with omega-3s for positions in our cell membranes so that anyone who is consuming lots of vegetable or seed oils, as most Americans are, is not going to have a lot of omega-3s in their tissues.
As our reliance on seed oils has increased since the early 1900s so has our incidence of heart disease and other ailments
Omega-3s originate in the green leaves of plants, as I said, and because green leaves are the most abundant thing on the planet, omega-3s are, in fact the most abundant fat on the planet. The only place they’re not abundant is in the tissues of Americans and other Westerners because we’re eating so many of the competing omega-6 fats.
http://www.susanallport.com/
Omega-3s are one of two families of essential fats, which are fats we cannot make ourselves and must consume in our diets. The omega-3s originate in green leaves (of all places), and they compete with a second family of essential fats, omega-6s, fats that are much more prevalent in the seeds of plants, for positions in every cell in our body.
We’ve been taught to think of all these fats, the polyunsaturates, as one big happy family. But in fact they are two competing families with very different effects on our bodies. Omega-3s speed up the activity of cells; omega-6s slow it down. Omega-3s create little to no inflammation; omega-6s create a lot of inflammation. A balance of these two families, in our diets and our tissues, produces just the right amount of activity and inflammation and leads to optimal health.
How have omega-3s been removed from the Western Diet
Let me back up a moment and talk about where omega-3s are found and then it will be easy to see how they’ve been removed. Omega-3s originate in the green leaves of plants, not fish, as most people think. They accumulate in the tissues of animals that eat green leaves, including fish, but they originate in the chlorplasts of green leaves. A second family fats, omega-6s, are much more prevalent in the seeds of plants. Omega-6s are also essential for health but they compete with omega-3s for positions in our cell membranes so that anyone who is consuming lots of vegetable or seed oils, as most Americans are, is not going to have a lot of omega-3s in their tissues.
As our reliance on seed oils has increased since the early 1900s so has our incidence of heart disease and other ailments
Omega-3s originate in the green leaves of plants, as I said, and because green leaves are the most abundant thing on the planet, omega-3s are, in fact the most abundant fat on the planet. The only place they’re not abundant is in the tissues of Americans and other Westerners because we’re eating so many of the competing omega-6 fats.
http://www.susanallport.com/
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