23-Mar-2010

Posted by : XO Fitness

Comments Off on >Omega 3 Fatty Acids

>Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Category : Healthy Eating

>Let’s list the growing list of benefits of Omega 3’s as noted in “You On a Diet” by doctors Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz (Go buy this book today, it’s both illuminating and entertaining!). Omega 3’s:
  • Act as an anti-inflammatory
  • Improve arterial function & clear cholesterol
  • Improve blood cholesterol composition (raise HDL’s & lower LDL’s)
  • Improve brain function
  • Improve desire (you know what I mean and no, I’m not making it up!)
  • Antidepressant function (studied in pregnant women but likely applicable to everyone)
In addition to the above (and mentioned in our August 2008 xo fitnews), a study published in the April 2006 edition of Surgical Neurology strongly indicated that supplementing Omega 3’s can actually reduce neck and back pain. Many of the study participants actually discontinued using NSAIDS (anti-inflammatory drugs) to manage their neck and back pain. Roizen and Oz advise either eating (3) four ounce servings per week of fish (usually deep sea fish like salmon or tuna), eating an ounce of walnuts a day, or taking a 2000mg fish oil tablet daily. Other popular sources of Omega threes are avocados, almonds and other nuts, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds and flax seed oil, as well as dark leafy greens like kale, spinach and broccoli. Olive oil and canola oil are good sources and I honestly can’t think why a person would have any other oil in their house. Recently, many products have also come onto the market featuring Omega 3’s. Look for whole grain breads and even tortillas with flax seed, not to mention margerines, eggs and pastas (like Barilla plus). The final word on Omega 3’s is not that you want to ADD them to your diet…you want to REPLACE poor sources (corn oil) with good sources (olive or canola oil).