OMEGA 3 FATTY ACID ……..WHAT IS IT ACTUALLY?

OMEGA 3 FATTY ACID ……..WHAT IS IT ACTUALLY?

Why should we consume Omega 3?


Consuming Omega-3 fatty acids promotes heart health
It lowers cholesterol levels and high blood pressure
It reduces blood clotting in the arteries and protect from hardening of the arteries,
It reduces inflammation and stiff joints in those with arthritis
It improves symptoms of depression
It improves blood sugar levels in those with diabetes
Gives added shine n luster to hair and skin

What is this omega 3 fatty acid but…………….

To begin with we must distinguish between the two polyunsaturated fatty acids which are termed essential because they cannot be made in the body and therefore must be present in the diet. They are linoleic acid (LA), an omega 6 fat, which is widely available in a vegetarian diet, being present in large quantities in most oils and other vegetable based fatty foods, and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an omega 3 fat, which is not so widely available in a vegetarian diet, and is generally considered to be the more beneficial of the two EFAs. Alpha-linolenic acid is what is known as an omega 3 fat.

Taking an overview of the various fatty acids intake recommendations worldwide, and the confounding factors surrounding the common vegetarian diet, leads to a conclusion that an ALA intake of 1.5% of total energy is optimum for vegetarians – or roughly 4g a day. However it is also important for vegetarians to ensure that their intake of LA is not too high compared with ALA since a higher intake of LA interferes with the process in which the human body converts ALA into the even more beneficial EPA and DHA, so a LA to ALA ratio of around 4 to 1 or slightly lower is considered to be the optimum, but any steps to bring down an excessively high amount of omega 6 fats in the diet would be beneficial.

SOURCES

Did  you know that mother’s milk produces Omega 3 ALA? – food for thought.

Seafood

The best source of omega fatty acids is seafood, since fish oil has high concentrations of the important fatty acids, DHA and EPA.Fatty fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, sardines and tuna are significant sources and two3 ounce servings per week are recommended

Omega-3 fatty acids are also found in:

• walnuts, Brazil nuts, Soy nuts
•  Flax seeds,  Pumpkin seeds
• Soybeans, navy beans, kidney beans, Green beans
• Vegetables; broccoli, cauliflower, Avocado
• Fruits;  raspberries, strawberries, kiwifruit, papaya   

References

Goyens PL, Spilker ME, Zock PL, et al. Compartmental modeling to quantify alpha-linolenic acid conversion after longer term intake of multiple tracer boluses. J Lipid Res, 2005. 46:1474-83.

The Mayo Clinic

"FOOD PROCESSOR | Nutrition and Fitness" from ESHA Research.

The American Heart Association

Creative Kitchen Tips

 Creative Kitchen Tips

Most of us regularly indulge in foods that are not nutritious like pizza, burgers, samosa, vada pav, mithai, ladoos etc. An occasional indulgence is fine but eating them often is harmful for health. Even when cooking foods at home here are a few tips which will prove useful.

Kitchen Tips 

1. Add sugar to water when boiling green peas, french beans or green gram instead of soda to retain the green colour and decrease intake of sodium.

2.To prevent lady finger vegetable from becoming sticky add 2 tsp of curd while cooking. This in turn will require less oil for cooking the vegetable. 

3.Add 2 tsp of low fat milk when cooking cauliflower vegetable to ensure that the florets remain white in colour.  

4.To improve the consistency of idli batter, add a little roasted rava, the idli will turn out softer and tastier

DIET!!!!!!!WHAT IT REALLY MEANS

Aren’t we all concerned about weight loss, size zero, skinny looks, having perfect figure???????

YES WE ALL ARE!!!!

What we do to achieve this, very simple go on a DIET.

How many times has this happened to you that inspite of dieting i.e. eating less, just 2-3 meals/day and exercising and still not losing weight, very often or may be still going on isn’t it? Doesn’t it sound depressing???

So why does this happen, have you ever thought about it, now let me explain you the following,

Eating less can slow down your metabolism.

U will lose 1/4^th pound of muscle for every 3/4 th pound of fat on a low calorie diet alone.

For eg:- if u drop 20 pds without taking any exercise u have lost 5pds of muscle and 15pds of fat. That does not seem bad at all, untill u know

Every pd of muscle burns 14cal/day

Every pd of fat burns 2 cal/day

The longer time you are on this low calorie diet the slower will be your metabolism untill you build more muscles, you will continue to burn enery as slow as a bear in hibernation.

Therefore true meaning of diet is eating a well balance healthy 6-8 meals a day.

D – dumping in quality foods

I – increased energy

E- eating frequently

T- thumping blood