The Queen of Fats....Omega-3 New Book

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Where to find omega-3s

By Terri Coles

TORONTO (Reuters) - Breakfast might not be where you expect to get

your daily dose of omega-3s, but the healthy fats used to be naturally

found in foods like bacon and eggs, said the author of a book about

how to get them back in the foods you eat every day.

As we've moved from eating animals who grazed on grass to ones

commercially farmed and grain-fed, we've ended up with a diet

deficient in omega-3 fatty acids, and we're paying the price with our

health, said Allport, the author of " The Queen of Fats: Why

Omega-3s Were Removed from the Western Diet and What We Can Do to

Replace Them, " released in paperback on Feb. 8.

Omega-3 fats are most commonly associated with fish like salmon, but

they originate in the chloroplasts in the green leaves of plants,

where they play a role in photosynthesis, the process by which plants

convert sunlight into oxygen and carbohydrates. When animals eat those

leaves, the fats accumulate in their bodies; when we eat those

animals, the fats accumulate in ours.

Omega-3 fats then get into every cell in our bodies, Allport said,

where they compete for position in the cell membrane with another

fatty acid, omega-6s, which are more commonly found in plant seeds.

" They basically affect the activity of every call in our body, "

Allport said. The American Heart Association recommends eating fish at

least twice a week as a source for omega-3 fatty acids. People who

should avoid excessive fish consumption because of concerns about

mercury contamination should get omega-3s through supplements, the

Association says.

Both types of fatty acids are essential to health -- the omega-3s

speed up activity in the cell membrane, and the omega-6s slow it down.

Animals use that difference in the fatty acids' function to deal with

the changing of seasons, Allport explained -- eating the omega-3 fats

found in leaves during times of activity and reproduction, and the

omega-6 fats found in seeds during times of hunkering down and survival.

We're just beginning to learn about how the balance of fats works in

humans, she said, but it's clear that maintaining that balance is for

human health. In " Queen of Fats " Allport outlines how our food supply

has changed to favor omega-6 fats over omega-3s, which she argues has

contributed to an increase in ailments like heart disease and other

inflammatory disorders.

" We've changed our food supply so much that Americans and populations

in other Western nations now eat a diet that's extremely rich in those

slower omega 6 fats year round, " Allport said, " and that's resulting

in these chronic diseases. "

Studies done so far have associated omega-3s with reduced inflammation

and the prevention of conditions like heart disease and arthritis, and

the fatty acid is thought to be essential in brain function and may

play a role in depression. Omega-3s have also been tied to

improvements in or prevention of stroke, blood pressure and eye disease.

There have been two big changes regarding food supply that have

affected the balance of omega-3s to omega-6s in our bodies, Allport

said. We've replaced plant-based oils and fats like butter and lard

with seed-based oils, which are richer in omega-6 fatty acids; we are

also eating more seeds and grains than plants. As well, livestock are

more commonly fed seeds and grains now than grasses, she said, which

means that our diets have a higher concentration of omega-6 fats and a

lower concentration of omega-3 fats.

Though both fats are needed in the cell, omega-6s function differently

than omega-3s, and produce prostaglandins that have inflammatory

properties and are more likely to lead to blood clotting.

Eggs are a good example to illustrate how our diets and food system

have changed the omega-3 concentration in what we eat, Allport said.

" Eggs used to be as rich in omega-3 fats as fish, " she said. " Chickens

put those omega-3s into the eggs for the same reason that omega-3s are

concentrated in the breast milk of nursing women: for the brain

development of the next generation. "

The ideal balance of omega-6s to omega-3s in the diet and the human

body is not yet know, Allport said, but right now a four-to-one ratio

of omega-6s to omega-3s in the diet, which results in about a 50-50

ratio in cell membranes, is thought to be ideal.

That is the ratio the Japanese have in their diets and membranes, she

said, and that country displays some of the world's lowest rates of

many chronic diseases and highest longevity.

Fish, particularly salmon, are most commonly associated with omega-3

fats, but Allport explained there are other ways to include the fats

in your diet. Fish are a great source because they're one of the few

organisms we consume that still eat greens.

But terrestrial animals were also once a good source of omega-3 fats,

she said, and those that consume a greens-based diet, such as

grass-fed beef, still are. Switching cooking oils from those rich in

omega-6s -- safflower, peanut, soybean and sunflower oil -- to those

rich in omega-3s -- olive and canola oil -- is an easy change, she

said. Omega-3 enriched eggs, along with greens themselves, are also

dietary sources of omega-3 fatty acids.

Though some foods like milk and orange juice are now available with

added omega-3 fats, encapsulation can sometimes be imperfect, Allport

warned. You might be able to taste the fish oil in the food, or the

fatty acids could be so strong that they pass right through the body.

Some processed foods contain natural sources of omega-3s, such as

cereals with added flax, but in general, encapsulation is less than

ideal, she said.

" I think it's important to understand how we got into this pickle

regarding the two families of essential fats, " Allport said, " and to

make some better changes to the food supply so that it's not just

those people who are extremely aware of the issue who are going to be

getting adequate amounts of omega-3s, but it's the population in general "

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