Most of us have read and heard much about the positive effects of eating foods containing Omega-3’s...but I’m reading a book right now called REAL FOOD by Nina Planck and she has some more interesting info on it. This book is great if you happen to come across it anywhere-so much of what she says makes perfect sense to me, with the exception of her high opinion of pork and lard. She talks about how it’s the “industrial” foods that are the main source of so many of the health problems in the western world today-and she puts forth heaps of statistics and information to back up her argument.
My main point today, though, is some of the info about how Omega-3 fats affect metabolism and contribute to obesity and diabetes.
I’m going to share a few paragraphs straight out of the book.
Let’s look first at the effects on metabolism, because metabolic disturbances are in many ways the root of the 3 conditions of obesity, diabetes & heart disease. Omega-3 fats regulate blood sugar levels and fat burning. DHA (docosahexaenoic acid’ -and essential fatty acid that cannot be produced by our body) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic Acid) in particular are directly involved in activating the expression of genes controlling fat metabolism. For example, mice fed the same number of calories from fish oil are leaner than those fed corn oil, which is rich in omega-6 fats. People whose muscles are low in omega-e fats are more likely to be obese.
Obesity, in turn, leads to diabetes. In the US today, diabetes & metabolic syndrome-or prediabetes-are epidemic.
What is diabetes? When blood sugar rises, the pancreas secretes the hormone insulin, which signals the muscles to take sugar from the blood to muscles. Once in the muscle, the sugar has two uses: as immediate energy or as short term, stored energy, in the form of glycogen, which marathon runners draw on. In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas does not produce insulin at all. In type 2 diabetes, which accounts for 90-95% of cases, the pancreas does produce insulin, but the muscles don't respond; they are "insulin resistant." When the muscles are deaf to insulin, sugar, which is toxic at high levels, gathers in the blood. Until recently, type 2 diabetes was viewed as an adult disease, and it is still most common in overweight people over fifty-five, but the rising number of cases in children in a distressing trend. diabetes, it seems, is not a disease of age, but of diet. Fish is important, because omega-3 fats decrease insulin resistance.
In type 1 diabetes, the body attacks its own pancreatic cells. Other autoimmune diseased include arthritis, psoriasis, Chrohn’s, lupus, colitis and asthma. A common symptom is chronic excessive inflammation. Omega -3 fats prevent inflammation and omega-6 fats promote it. According to Dr. Artemis Simopoulos (the Omega diet) says the protective effect of omega-3 fats on auto-immune kidney disease is “one of the most dramatic effects of omega-3 fats on any pathology.
She goes on about heart disease and how the evidence of omega-3 fats preventing heart disease is growing rapidly. It has been shown to reduce blood pressure, reduce clotting, inflammation & triglycerides, reduce the lipoprotein which promotes atherosclerosis & blood clots and a list of other findings as well.
Omega 3 fats have been shown to assist in overcoming depression as well.
In my opinion, from reading this and heaps of other stuff about Omega-3 it is very good for you. Of course, the best source of Omega-3 is fish...so eat your fish; wild salmon is top of the list for this…but if you don’t like fish get some good quality fish oil through tabs or liquid form. Helps with weight and overall health!
