Omega 3

Hi everyone! As mentioned in yesterday’s blog entry I am reading this great book, ‘The 3-Season Diet’, and a passage today spoke to me. I had another coworker ask me a question about health, this time about omega 3’s, hence why the passage spoke to me. So for your reading pleasure here is a synopsis of what was written:

The healthful Mediterranean Diet mentioned earlier relies heavily on the use of oils made from seeds and nuts and to a lesser extent on fish oils. Walnut, canola, safflower, and flaxseed oil are unsaturated to they do not raise blood levels of cholesterol and are rich in alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid found only in plants and essential to human health. Together with algae or for those that eat fish, fish-both of which contain the omeg-3 unsaturated fatty acids known as eicosapentaenoic acid or EPA and docosahexaenoic acid or DHA-the oils have been shown to reduce the risk of blood clotting, abnormal heart rhythms, and the creation of arterial plaque. (See picture from yesterday's blog)

Surprising, fats provide more than twice the energy, gram for gram of carbohydrates, the more generally accepted source of energy. Up to two-third of the total energy of the cells may be supplied by fat rather that carbs. Because of its high density and slow-burning nature, another primary function of fats is to store energy in its cells. If we eat more food than we need, however, unused proteins and carbs will also be stores in fat cells, leading to weight gain and reducing energy levels.

“In making food choices, we must learn to eat foods that are nutritionally robust-fruits, vegetables, legumes,” says Dr. Robert H Eckel, the chairman of the American heart Associate’s nutrition committee and professor of medicine and physiology at University of Colorado. “There is strong evidence that these kinds of foods help to reduce the disease, not just heart disease but also cancer, diabetes, hypertension and obesity.”

Tomorrow is Friday! We're almost there! Tonight is the Jewish holiday, Simchat Torah, so that should be a lot of fun, even though I probably will be tired as I'm going to try to get in a workout today after work! Anyway, hope you have time to make some healthy choices today!