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omega 3's revealed

Research is showing us that the epidemic of diseases associated with the Western diet - cancer, heart disease, depression and more can be linked to the omission of omega-3 fatty acids. With popular diet trends putting an emphasis on removing all fat from our daily intake and increasing our consumption of proteins, we have fallen victim to truly becoming what we eat. We have been led to believe that the path to a slimmer waistline and a healthier life we must avoid all saturated fats, trans fat, and fat in general. But as crucial as protein is, so is fat. Fat protects our organs, as well as builds cells of the brain, an organ that is 60% fat itself. The crucial fat needed for these tasks are omega 3s.

Omega 3 fatty acids will boost brain function and protect against coronary heart disease. Some of us have already read about the health benefits of omega 3s and our supermarkets are loaded with the new promise on many labels touting "Rich in Omega 3"! Before you check it off as being just another trend, think again - this one is the real deal.

Omega 3 molecules are the result of the fusion of sunlight, water and carbon dioxide in the chloroplasts of plants and marine algae. It wasn't too long ago these fatty acids were a direct component of our daily diet without our earnest quest for them. Long before the arrival of bovine growth hormone and patented transgenic seeds, our farms were the perfect place for manufacturing omega 3s, naturally.

Rich green pastures laden with a variety of grasses and cattle who's sensitive tongues easily plucked the ripest clover, millet and sweet grass became  the cellulose that humans can't digest into foods we can: milk, cheese, beef - all of which were rich in omega 3s. Once upon a time cattle spent four to five years roaming these pastures, grazing happily before they ever went to the slaughterhouse. Now they are fattened on grain in feedlots, pumped up on antibiotics to counteract the bacteria and infections that run rampant, and slaughtered within a year. The same with chickens who once were a source of omega 3s are now fattened with corn, treated with antibiotics, and raised in cramped unsanitary cages.

Our animal fats which were once derived from leafy greens, are now fattened with corn, soybeans, and other seed oils. Even the majority of our fish are raised on farms and fed soy pellets. So not only have good fats been taken out of our diets, but cheap widely available seed oils are the source of another, far less healthy family of fatty acids called omega-6s, which compete with omega 3s for space in cell membranes. Our ancestors had a perfect balance between omega 3s and omega 6s but the modern American diet of red meat, sugar, and refined carbs has tipped that scale drastically.

One form of fat in particular is soybean oil which is ubiquitous in processed foods. Soybeans, an import from Asia, has become the second most valuable food crop in the United States. Genetically modified to resists pests, they make a high protein meal for livestock and our subsidized industry has found a way to infuse soybeans into almost every product on our supermarket shelves in the form of "soy isoflavones", "textured vegetable protein", "soy protein isolate" and other "soy something ingredient". Look in your pantry and read the ingredients and you will surely find soybean oil in just about everything processed. On average, Americans eat 25 pounds of soy per year. Just four seed oils - soybean, corn, cottonseed, and canola oil - account for 96% of the vegetable oil eaten in America today.

This seed oil rich Western diet around the world has been tracked by a statistical rise in the so called diseases of civilization: asthma and arthritis, depression and Alzheimer's, heart disease and cancer, as well as diabetes and obesity.

Other Cultures

Throughout the world there are other civilizations far healthier than those who have adopted the Western diet. Okinawans, of Japan once had the longest life expectancy in the world but with postwar American administration, residents switched to the Western diet rich in meat and seed based vegetable oils. A direct result of that transition was a rise in cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.

And while it is true that Japanese consume soy, they consume it in the form of tofu, miso and soy sauce - the way it is prepared, precipitated or fermented - is far healthier than the raw, mineral blocking phytate estrogen and omega6 rich versions consumed by Americans.

Dr. Hibbeln , acting chief on nutritional neurosciences at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland is convinced that the key to the average Japanese citizen's longevity is omega 3 fatty acids. After a half a century of favoring seed based vegetable oils, the level of omega 3s in American bloodstreams has fallen to 20% of polysaturates. "We have changed the composition of peoples bodies and brains," says Dr. Hibbeln .

In other research and studies, they have found a direct link between omega 3s and overall behavior changes. In one study of  inmates medicated with fish oil in a British prison, assaults dropped by a third. Comparing homicide rates in 5 countries, Dr. Hibbeln found that the rising consumption of omega 6 fatty acids correlated with a hundredfold increase in death by homicide.

The Verdict Is In

Increasing Omega 3s, even in modest amounts, reduces your risk for coronary death by 36%. Mothers who ingest omega 3s during pregnancy  will increase the motor skills and verbal IQs of their children. Increasing your amount of omega 3s might even reverse obesity - that middle pooch you can't get rid of turns out is mostly omega 6's. Higher intakes of omega 3s positively affect things such as stroke, allergies, dementia even dyslexia.

One of the other primary findings in omega 3s importance is it's relationship to our brain. Omega 3s, specifically DHA and EPA, are crucial nutrients that permitted protohumans with brains the size of a chimps to become chattering, tool using Homo Sapiens. DHA has been found abundantly in the tails of rattlesnakes, the wings of hummingbirds, the tails of sperm and the retinas and brain cells of people who eat fish.  DHA allows a more effective reception of serotonin, dopamine and other crucial neurotransmitters.

Seafood is rich in the minerals zinc, iodine, copper, iron and selenium - all of which are essential for fetal brain growth and good brain function in adults. In human evolution when humans lived on the shorelines and who's diet consisted primarily of fish, the brains began to grow allowing for the rise of language and tool making. Until the American Revolution, 98% of the population lived along rivers and oceans. Leaving the coasts might be a slow motion public health disaster. Deficiencies of DHA and the brain selective minerals abundant on shorelines affect the performance of the modern human  brain and, if uncorrected, might eventually cause brains to shrink.

In other words, our cod liver oil loving grandmothers may have been onto something very profound. However, our decision to replace the omega 3s in our diet with omega 6s might end up being a disastrous result, and a decision which may prove that as a species, Homo sapiens are getting dumber!

Making Changes

One of the easiest changes we can make is to rid your kitchen of high omega 6 fats such as sunflower oil, corn oil, soybean oil, and margarine. Replace these with olive oil, canola oil (a polyunsaturate, but one that is high in omega 3s), and butter.

Read labels. Know what you are putting into your body. Polyunsaturated fats are usually synonymous with omega 6 fatty acids and have worked themselves into nearly every product in processed foods. Seek out monounsaturated fats like olive oil and avoid processed foods entirely.

Take an omega 3 or essential fatty acid supplement.

Seek out grass fed beef, free range chickens (and their eggs), buy the best olive oil, canola oil and butter you can find and eat lots of fish and shellfish, preferably small wild-caught species from clean waters. Eat as your ancestors did.

Omega 3s are not a quick fix to health, be patient. Omega 3s take at least 3 months to harness themselves into heart cells and to affect other parts of your health. But if you stick with it, your energy will change, your brain will be more focused among other noticeable health benefits.