The Queen of Fats: Why Omega-3s Were Removed from the Western Diet and What We Can Do to Replace Them

12. PUTTING OMEGA-3s BACK INTO YOUR FOOD SUPPLY

TWELVE PUTTING OMEGA-3s BACK INTO YOUR FOOD SUPPLY A good cook is half a physician. ANDREW BOORDE, 1547 THE QUEEN OF FATS IS NOT A DIET OR A NUTRITION BOOK, NOR IS IT the last word in omega-3 recommendations or research, a field that expands greatly every year. But I would be remiss if I didn’t give readers some advice on what fats they should be eating and how they can correct for the large amounts of linoleic acid in the American food supply. Though the government may dawdle over this issue, individual readers can take matters in their own hands by following some fairly simple and straightforward guidelines. These guidelines don’t involve any calculations—calculations aren’t necessary, and any food plan that does involve them is not one that free-foraging, free-ranging eaters, as most of us are, can adhere to over time. Besides, foods vary in their omega-3 content with season, location, and an animal’s diet, so any figures I chose would be somewhat arbitrary. What I provide instead is a series of directions in which you can safely and confidently move.* 138 *Readers who would like more detailed shopping and cooking information , including recipes and a list of resources, should consult The Omega Plan by Artemis Simopoulos and Jo Robinson (New York: HarperCollins, 1998). 1. EAT LOTS (AND LOTS) OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. Green vegetables are full of alpha linolenic acid, the parent omega-3 fatty acid, and all fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants that protect fats against oxidation. To bulk up on alpha linolenic acid, you should eat the vegetables you enjoy—and lots of them. A number of seaweeds also have the ability to produce DHA or eicosapentaenoic acid and are an excellent addition to any diet. 2. CONSUME OILS THAT HAVE A HEALTHY BALANCE OF OMEGA3s AND OMEGA-6s. Avoid oils in which linoleic acid greatly overshadows alpha linolenic acid, namely safflower, sunflower, corn, cottonseed, and peanut oils, and consume more flaxseed, walnut, canola, and soybean oils. It’s even okay to eat small quantities of butter, which has large amounts of saturated fats and small amounts of polyunsaturated fats, but a wholesome ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s. Olive oil is another good alternative, though it too has only small amounts of alpha linolenic acid. But its amounts of linoleic acid are also small, and it is full of antioxidants and other beneficial compounds. Olive oil, of course, is one of the foundations (along with fish and vegetables) of the healthy, time-tested Mediterranean diet. Though soybean oil is sometimes blamed for the current imbalance in our diets (probably because the rise in importance of soybeans as a crop has paralleled the increase of omega-6-rich linoleic acid in our food supply, and because most of the fat in the American diet—more than 75 percent— comes from this single source), soybean oil can be part of a wholesome diet. It should be used sparingly, and it shouldn’t be hydrogenated or otherwise modified, as is much of the soybean oil in the United States. Most important, it shouldn’t be your only source of omega-3s. Soybeans and soybean oil are PUTTING OMEGA-3s BACK INTO YOUR FOOD 139 part of the Japanese cuisine, and the Japanese, who also consume much more fish, vegetables, and seaweed than Western populations, have, as I’ve said, the longest life span and lowest rate of most diseases of any population on earth. 3. EAT A WIDE VARIETY OF FISH. Include lean fish such as cod, halibut, and trout in your diet as well as fatty fish such as salmon and mackerel. Because they live in water and require more flexibility in their membranes than do land animals, all fish are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Fatty fish have more in their flesh because they store their excess fat in their bellies, not their livers, as do lean fish like cod. But all fish are a valuable source of these nutrients and should be appreciated as such. Eating a wide diversity of fish should help us to increase our omega-3 intake. It should also help to prevent overfishing and protect us against toxins that tend to accumulate in certain species. 4. EAT OMEGA-3 ENRICHED EGGS. Most grocery stores carry these—look for the words omega...