Bill Sardi
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 The ratio of omega-6s and omega-3s is important in prostate cancer prevention. Sadly, omega-3s have almost been eradicated from Western civilization with the grain-feeding of cattle and the frequent avoidance of fish in the diet. So the ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s is far greater than in previous generations. Omega-3 consumption in the Western diet has become so low that researchers can't find it in lab sample tissues. A study of men found higher concentrations of omega-3s in blood serum samples taken from healthy males, with lower concentrations taken from men with prostatitis. |
Mehmet C. Oz., M.D. and Michael F. Roizen, M.D.
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 Trans fats are rigid, so they make your arteries spasm and cause dangerous inflammation, while omega-3s relax your arteries and quell inflammation (see Figure 8.6).
Figure 8.6 Fat Attack Owega-3 fatty acids are more beneficial than the rigid trans fats because they have double bonds. Rigid fats cause inflammation and spasm of our arteries; omega-? fatty acids put out these fires and relax our arteries. PHA and EPA are omega-3s.
Saturated or Linoleic Acid Lmolemc Acid
HOp Trans-Fats HO O Om.ega-6 HO O Omega.-3 zo c' V H-c''H 19 i.JL. |
Marshall Editions
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 R^JI^r Originally praised for their heart-healthy actions, the omega-3s have also been shown to fight inflammation. All fish contain omega-3s, but the cold-water varieties—such as salmon, sea bass, tuna, trout, and mackerel— contain especially high amounts of these beneficial fats. Pineapple contains bromelain, a powerful enzyme that has been shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect on muscle and tissue. Bromelain breaks down fibrin, a blood-clotting protein that can impede circulation and prevent tissues from draining properly. |
Bottom Line Health
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| Fish that are rich in omega-3s and relatively low in mercury include anchovies, conch, herring (fresh or pickled, not creamed), mackerel (Atlantic only), sable-fish, salmon (fresh, canned or smoked, wild or farmed), sardines (Atlantic), sturgeon and tuna (fresh or canned bluefin—not albacore).
•Balance essential fatty acids. The optimal ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3s is approximately 4:1. The ratio in the average American diet is closer to 20:1. A relative excess of omega-6 fats in tissues causes cells to produce excessive levels of pro-inflammatory chemicals called prostanoids. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Dry, inflamed skin or skin that suffers from the frequent appearance of whiteheads or blackheads can benefit from supplementing with essential fatty acids (EFAs), especially omega-3s. EFAs are responsible for skin repair, moisture content, and overall flexibility, but because the body cannot produce its own EFAs, they must be obtained through the diet.
The typical American diet is overabundant in omega-6 fatty acids found in baked goods and grains, and lacking in omega-3s, found in cold-water fish such as salmon and mackerel, as well as flaxseeds and safflower oil. |
Jack Challem
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 Fish are the preferred source because the omega-3s exist in more biologically active forms, specifically eicosapen-taenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
EPA and DHA are incorporated into the fatty membranes (walls) of cells, where they influence how cells communicate with each other. When other fats are incorporated in their place, communication between brain cells is disrupted.
In ancient times, people consumed roughly equal amounts of the omega-3s and the omega-6s and no trans fats. |
Brenda Watson and Leonard Smith
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 Both omega-3s and -6s are vital to your health, but most people consume too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3.The reason for this is that most Americans have a diet rich in omega-6 source foods (fried foods, margarine, whole-grain bread, baked goods, and other saturated fats), and low in omega-3 source foods such as fish. Due to these eating habits, the typical American diet contains as much as 20 times more omega-6 than omega-3!
Eating a diet with significant amounts of foods rich in omega-3s can be highly beneficial. |
Neal D. Barnard and Bryanna Clark Grogan
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 There is increasing evidence, however, that omega-3s are no panacea. In a recent British Medical Journal article, a team of British researchers reported the results of a meta-analysis—that is, a large study combining all the prior studies on omega-3s and health. Looking at 89 prior studies, the researchers found that whether omega-3 oils were consumed in fish or as supplements, they offered no significant protection against cardiovascular disease, cancer, or risk of death.2
Could the supposed benefits of omega-3s be just a fish story? |
Jack Challem
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| Today, the average American eats twenty to thirty times more omega-6s than omega-3s, as well as substantial amounts of trans fats. As a result, the omega-3s are virtually nonexistent in many people's diets, contributing to depression and other mood disorders. High intake of the omega-6s increases the risk of depression, whereas many studies have found that omega-3 fish oil supplements are helpful in treating depression. They also function as a mild blood thinner and a regulator of heart rhythm. |
John J. Ratey, MD
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 And some people use omega-3s as a stand-alone treatment for mood disorders and ADHD. One study showed that people who eat fish once a week slow the yearly rate of cognitive decline by 10 percent. The Framingham Heart Study followed nine hundred people for nine years and found that those who ate three meals with fish oil per week were half as likely to develop dementia. omega-3s lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and neuronal inflammation, and they elevate the immune response and BDNF levels. |
| Trans fat, animal fat, and hydrogenated oils gum up the works, but the omega-3s found in fish are enormously beneficial. Population studies have shown that countries in which people eat a lot of fish have lower incidence of bipolar disorder. And some people use omega-3s as a stand-alone treatment for mood disorders and ADHD. One study showed that people who eat fish once a week slow the yearly rate of cognitive decline by 10 percent. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| The typical American diet is overabundant in omega-6 fatty acids found in baked goods and grains, and lacking in omega-3s, found in cold-water fish such as salmon and mackerel, as well as flaxseeds and safflower oil. Simply balancing the intake of omega-3s with omega-6s can result in smoother, younger-looking skin. EFAs are also available in supplement form - such as fish oil capsules or evening primrose oil - and are effective at treating a wide range of disorders, from depression and cancer to arthritis and heart disease. |
J. Douglas Bremner
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 In another study two hundred patients with a history of a potentially lethal heart arrhythmia called ventricular tachycardia were given omega-3s or placebo." The number of potentially lethal ventricular tachycardias increased in those given the omega-3s.
Fish-oil supplements or other food products to which omega-3 fatty acids have been added do not prevent heart disease in people without a history of heart disease and it is questionable whether they have beneficial effects in people with a history of heart disease. |
Bill Sardi
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| So the ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s is far greater than in previous generations. Omega-3 consumption in the Western diet has become so low that researchers can't find it in lab sample tissues. A study of men found higher concentrations of omega-3s in blood serum samples taken from healthy males, with lower concentrations taken from men with prostatitis. The lowest rates were found in men with prostate cancer. [Clinical Biochemistry 32: 405-09, 1999]
Fish oil has about 30% omega-3 oil while flaxseed oil has about 60% omega-3 oil. |
John J. Ratey, MD
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| The Framingham Heart Study followed nine hundred people for nine years and found that those who ate three meals with fish oil per week were half as likely to develop dementia. omega-3s lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and neuronal inflammation, and they elevate the immune response and BDNF levels. You can find omega-3s in deep-water fish such as salmon, cod, and tuna, or you can take a daily supplement that contains 1200 mg of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 200 mg of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) — the two key omegas. |
Gabriel Cousens
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 In the omega-3 series, there is alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and the long-chain omega-3s EPA and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
OMEGA-3 BENEFITS
The omega-3 series should constitute approximately 10-20 percent of our fat intake. Some of the reported benefits of the omega-3s include protection against heart disease, strokes, and clots in the lungs; anti-carcinogenic activity against tumors; protection against diabetes; prevention and treatment of arthritis; and treatment for asthma, PMS, allergies, inflammatory diseases, water retention, rough or dry skin, and multiple sclerosis. |
Jack Challem
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 Furthermore, the omega-3s improve glucose tolerance and reduce both insulin and triglyceride levels. The omega-3 fats play important roles in maintaining normal glucose tolerance, and high levels of vegetable oils and trans fats interfere with their normal activity. We'll explain more about the benefits of the omega-3 fish oils in chapter 10.
Trans fats, soybean oil, and saturated fats appear to increase body fat. Fish oils and olive oil may help to keep people slim. |
John J. Ratey, MD
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| You can find omega-3s in deep-water fish such as salmon, cod, and tuna, or you can take a daily supplement that contains 1200 mg of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 200 mg of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) — the two key omegas.
Vitamin D is being recognized not only for its importance in strengthening bones but also as a measure against cancer and Parkinson's. I would recommend 1000 IU (international units) of vitamin D and for women, 1500 mg of calcium. I would also recommend taking vitamin B with at least 800 mg of folate, which improves memory and processing speed. |
Tori Hudson, N.D.
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 Inadequate intake of omega-3s has significant implications for both mother and infant. The development of the central nervous system, the brain, the eyes, and the immune system have all been associated with adequate intake of docahexaenoic acid (DHA) during the development of the fetus.
Essential fatty acids have a unique role during pregnancy because of the rapid cell growth and development of new tissues and new organ systems in a developing fetus. Fetal development is associated with a high EFA requirement, and this supply is dependent on the amount and availability of EFAs from the mother. |
| It contains twice as many omega-3s and is usually less expensive. Flaxseed oil provides the body with alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which it uses to make EPA, whereas fish oil provides EPA directly. There is some concern that humans do not readily convert ALA to the EPA and DFIA, and therefore flaxseed oil would be a less efficient method of gaining EPA and DHA. However, rhere are studies on supplementation with flaxseed oil that suggest protective effects against cardiovascular disease by inhibiting the excessive clotting of blood. |
Jack Challem
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 The parent fat of the omega-3s, alpha-linolenic acid, is found in dark green leafy vegetables and flaxseed. More potent omega-3 s, especially EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), are found in coldwater fish such as salmon and herring. Basically, the omega-3s encourage the body's production of inflammation-suppressing compounds. They help remind the body to turn inflammatory reactions off when they are no longer needed.
» GLA (gamma-linolenic acid) is technically an omega-6 fatty acid, but it behaves more like an anti-inflammatory omega-3. It enhances the inflammation-suppressing effect of omega-3s. |
Michael Pollan
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 Besides demonizing fats in general, that advice has encouraged us to move from saturated fats of animal origin (some of which, like butter, actually contain respectable amounts of omega-3s) to seed oils, most of which are much higher in omega-6s (corn oil especially), and even more so after partial hydrogenation. The move from butter (and especially butter from pastured cows) to margarine, besides introducing trans fats to the diet, markedly increased omega-6s at the cost of omega-3 s. |
Tori Hudson, N.D.
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| Due to how we have contaminated our ocean waters and the wildlife that inhabits these waters, high-quality fish oils supplements may in fact be a safer alternative to fish in food form and enable us to gain the benefits of omega-3s while reducing the risk of toxicity.108-10<>
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
No recommendations have been established by the FDA but the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids recommends 2.87 mg per day of omega-3 fatty acids with a minimal intake of 300 mg per day of DHA for pregnancy or lactation. |
Michael Pollan
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| Here come omega-3s!)
You would not think that common food animals could themselves be rejiggered to fit nutritionist fashion, but in fact some of them could be, and were, in response to the 1977 and 1982 dietary guidelines as animal scientists figured out how to breed leaner pigs and select for leaner beef. |
Charles Barber
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 This line of research was provoked by the observation that in countries where a lot of fish is eaten, like Japan, depression tends to be low. omega-3s cannot be made by the brain and need to come from diet, mainly seafood. Mothers in England who consumed little fish during pregnancy experienced dramatically higher rates of postpartum depression than women who ate fish regularly.24 Bernard Gesch, of the University of Oxford, enrolled prisoners in a study of diet. Half of the prisoners got a placebo; the other half got a diet rich with vitamins and fish like salmon. |
Michael Pollan
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| The entire history of baby formula has been the history of one overlooked nutrient after another: Liebig missed the vitamins and amino acids, and his successors missed the omega-3s, and still to this day babies fed on the most "nutritionally complete" formula fail to do as well as babies fed human milk. Even more than margarine, infant formula stands as the ultimate test product of nutritionism and a fair index of its hubris.
This brings us to one of the most troubling features of nutritionism, though it is a feature certainly not troubling to all. |
| To date, at least, they can't put oat bran in a banana or omega-3s in a peach. So depending on the reigning nutritional orthodoxy, the avocado might either be a high-fat food to be assiduously avoided (OldThink) or a food high in monounsaturated fat to be embraced (New Think). The fate and supermarket sales of each whole food rises and falls with every change in the nutritional weather while the processed foods simply get reformulated and differently supplemented. |
| For most of our food animals, a diet of grass means much healthier fats (more omega-3s and conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA; fewer omega-6s and saturated fat) in their meat, milk, and eggs, as well as appreciably higher levels of vitamins and antioxidants. Sometimes you can actually see the difference, as when butter is yellow or egg yolks bright orange: What you're seeing is the beta-carotene from fresh green grass. It's worth looking for pastured animal foods in the market and paying the premium they typically command. |
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