Omega-3 Enriched Eggs

I’m usually cautious about health claims on labels – they are often misleading. Omega-3 enriched eggs is an exception, they really are good.

These eggs are laid by chickens that have been fed a diet rich in flaxseed, fish meal and/or algae and other greens. Eating foods rich in omega-3 fats improves the omega-3 content of the egg.

Any chicken that is allowed to forage for wild greens and insects has a better fat ratio than a grain (corn) fed animal. They are healthier too.

All the omega-3 fats are found in the egg yolk, which is the part of the egg containing fats. If you toss the yolks you’ll miss all the omega-3’s. Egg whites are primarily protein.

Are you worried about the cholesterol? There have been a number of good studies lately indicating that eating eggs does not impact blood levels of cholesterol. Blood cholesterol is affected by diet – but more by saturated and trans fats than by dietary cholesterol.

Find more nutrition information and my monthly newsletter on my website:  http://healthyhabitscoach.com .
Eat well!

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Cutting Back on Omega-6 Fats

It is good to get lots of omega-3 fats and to limit omega-6 fats. I’m going to talk here about why and how. But I have my own question about where omega-6 fats come from. I know part of the answer, and I’m hoping that some of my readers can fill in the gaps.

Omega 3 fats reduce inflammation – which is good since so many of our chronic diseases are linked to inflammation. Omega-6 fats, on the other hand, increase inflammation. Omega-6 fats are the storage form of fat found in seeds and grains.

The primary source of omega-6 fats in our diet are the oils that are made from seeds and grains. This includes corn oil, safflower and sunflower oils, cotton seed and peanut oils. Canola, walnut and flaxseed oil have good ratio’s of omega-6 to omega-3 and are good choices.

Olive oil is also a good choice – it is pretty neutral being low in both omega-6 and omega-3 fats but as a monounsaturated fat has some health benefits of its own.

The book “Queen of Fats” by Susan Allport had a good example that demonstrated the impact of a diet high in polyunsaturated fatty acids – many of which are omega-6 fats.  Israel has a high incidence and mortality from heart disease and the highest omega-6 intake of any of the countries studied.

They eat less animal fat and cholesterol, and fewer calories. But instead of enjoying better health like you might expect, they have comparable rates of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and many cancers.

So cutting back on omega-6 fats seems like a good idea. How do we do this? The people I work with have already switched to olive oil and canola oil – I don’t know anyone who still uses corn oil. It’s is on the grocery store shelves, so someone must buy it.

I know that omega-3 fats and processed foods are incompatible – they are too unstable for a good “shelf life”. I tend to think that processed foods might be one of the main ways we get omega-6 fats. Think cookies, baking mixes, chips, etc. 

But I’m not so sure about this. Processed food makers generally take vegetable oils and hydrogenate them to make them more stable. Hydrogenated and trans fats are a known risk factor for heart disease, but they are saturated fats.

I also know that grass fed or free range animals have a better fat ratio (meaning better omega-6 to omega-3 ratio) than grain fed animals (including fish). This makes sense – if corn oil has a very high level of omega-6 fats, then cows eating corn also have more omega-6 in their tissues. This could be a major source.

I’m assuming that eating whole grains and whole seeds is good. Some omega-6 fats are essential and this seems like the best way to get them – in their whole form. This way they have other beneficial nutrients and fiber.

So just how do we get our vegetable oils? Our intake of omega-6 fats has increased (from 7 grams per day in 1909 – 1913 to more than 25 grams in 1985) – but in 1985 we were all using corn oil. What about now?

If you have a piece of this puzzle, please share!

Find more nutrition information and my monthly newsletter on my website:  http://healthyhabitscoach.com .
Eat well!

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The Best Source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Did you know that the primary source of omega-3 fats are green leaves? That was an eye-opener for me!

I thought I knew a lot about omega-3 and omega-6 fats, I even wrote an ebook called Healthy Fats: Understanding the Omega-3 and Omega-6 Connection. So I’m especially excited that I could learn so much from a book called Queen of Fats by Susan Allport.

“Queen of Fats” is about the researchers who studied the essential fats and what they discovered. It is a little technical but an easy and fascinating read – something to add to your Christmas wish list if you like that kind of thing. I loved it.

My ebook is actually a little more practical, especially as a resource for adding omega-3 fats and limiting omega-6 fats. Susan Allport’s book is excellent for understanding what it means and why it matters. I can help with the “what’s next” part of putting it into action.

I’ll do a series of posts that give some of the highlights from “Queen of Fats”.

This brings us back to the green leaves. That was the biggest ah-ha for me in the book. I’ve been recommending fish oil to help reduce inflammation, and while I knew that you needed to both decrease omega-6 fats and increase omega-3 fats, and I knew that greens had small amounts of omega-3 fats, I didn’t think of them being a primary source.

Plants produce omega-3 fatty acids as part of the photosynthesis process. Fish get it from eating plankton (and other fish get it from eating them!) Cows that eat grass have more omega-3’s in their tissue. Chickens that eat greens and insects (and not grains) have more omega-3 fats in their eggs.

Humans can also get omega-3 fats from eating green plants – but we need to eat lots of them. Greens are good for many reasons; this adds another excellent reason to eat more of them.

I’ll write more about the balance between these two essential fatty acids, but for now the first tip is to eat more green vegetables. Actually, just eat more fruits and vegetables in general. They all work together to keep us healthy.

Find more nutrition information and my monthly newsletter on my website:  http://healthyhabitscoach.com .
Eat well!

Post script 2/9/09: I considered deleting this post, but instead would like to ammend it. While greens are a good source of omega-3’s (especially purslane) and one of the healthiest foods you can eat in general, fish oil still seems to be the best source of DHA and EPA, the form of omega-3 used in cell membranes. I do both – get lots of greens and I take fish oil. Greens contain ALA, and it takes significant amounts to convert to DHA and EPA. So retrospectively,  I think my title is misleading, that fish oil still is the best source. Sorry about that. I do still think the book is interesting and informative and getting more greens is still a good idea.

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