Monday, April 18, 2011

A-Z Challenge - 'O'

I considered a couple of topics beginning with O for today's post. I decided on 'omega-3.' Prior to my need to walk on my journey to wellness - when I thought I was healthy - I had been researching omega-3s. A co-worker who suffered from bipolar disorder had been taking an omega-3 supplement to help with his depression. While depression was never an issue for me, I was interested in learning more about the benefits of omega-3s so I read The Omega-3 Connection by Andrew Stoll as recommended by my co-worker.
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential in our diets because the human body is incapable of making them. People consuming proper ratios of omega-3s to omega-6 fatty acids have shown improvements in overall health.
Unfortunately, while omega-6 fatty acids re also essential, the ratio of 3s to 6s is far out of whack in the standard American diet. As well, due to the popularity of the low-fat craze, overall consumption of essential fatty acids have also taken a hit.

Good sources of omega-3 fatty acids are flax seeds, grass fed beef and raw milk from pastured cows, and wild caught fish including salmon, anchovies, and tuna.

10 comments:

Lorena G. Sims said...

Good information to know. I have been taking omega 3 capsules plus I've been eating salmon at least twice a week.

Linda H. said...

I had only heard of O3's and not O6's. Thanks for the info.

I eat salmon, tuna, flax but probably not often enough. I take O3's. They do help.

Amanda Trought said...

In these times its definitely essential to improve our diets and take more exercise, I've been making changes to mine as well. Great to be on your site. Looking forward to reading more.

Sylvia Ney said...

Very interesting.

Kara said...

It is very important to eat healthy and get the right supplements. Yes, grass fed beef is higher in omega 3’s than traditional grain fed beef. Grass fed beef is also lower in calories and fat. If you are interested in more information on the health benefits of grass fed beef you should check out the La Cense Beef website. La Cense is an approved 100% grass fed ranch located in Montana. I have learned a lot from their website.

Karen M. Peterson said...

I've been learning a lot more about O3s lately. It really is amazing, all the good things they do for us.

Greg said...

@Linda H. Having heard about omega-3 is a lot more important than hearing about omega-6 considering that our diet tends to have a lot more 6's than 3's. Flax seed is also high in omega-6.

Greg said...

@Amanda and Sylvia, welcome to my journey to wellness!

Greg said...

@Kara The benefits of grass fed beef (and free range chicken, for that matter) are amazing!

Greg said...

@Karen I know it! Fish oil (a primary source of omega-3) is so good that I feel like a snake oil salesman when I talk about it.