LIVINGLIVINGFOOD
NEWS
Without a doubt,
modern diets
lack enough
omega-3.
According to Dr
Carrie Ruxton, "There is a belief system
that things started to go wrong just a few
decades ago when people started to miss
breakfast, eat too much fast food, but it
goes way back to when we first started
farming and eating cereals and ate less
fish. From that point on we'd had fewer
omega-3s in the diet."
Nutrition & oily fish
All fatty acids are composed of chains
of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms.
The differences between fatty acids lie in
the molecular configuration, producing
differing health effects between fats.
Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats
are known by another name: omegas. There
are three types of omega fatty acids: omega3, omega-6 and omega-9. Omega-3
and omega-6 fatty acids are two types of
polyunsaturated fat. They are considered
When you have diabetes and have to think about your food all the
time, there are often mixed messages about what's good for you
and what's not. For a few decades fat has been public enemy no.1.
Now sugar is getting the drubbing it deserves. But back to fats, the
story is not a simple one because they are needed in a healthy diet.
The trick is to know which ones you need, how much of them to
have, and from which sources.
OILY FISH, OMEGA 3
AND DIABETESessential fatty acids (EFAs) because the body
cannot manufacture them.
The issue with modern diets is that
we tend to get too much omega-6s and
not enough omega-3s. Omega-3 fats
are found in evening primrose, flaxseed,
rapeseed and walnut oil, but the richest
source is marine plankton (like krill) and
fatty fish.
Omega-9 fatty acids are
monounsaturated fats and are important
for heart health and have a role in
blood sugar control too. They can be
obtained in the diet through foods such
as canola oil, nuts and avocados. There
is also a beneficial form of omega-6,
gamma linolenic acid (GLA), which acts
like omega-3 and has been shown to
damp down inflammation. Low GLA in
modern diets could be linked the rise in
inflammatory diseases such as arthritis but
might also be linked to the rise in cases
of asthma and, notably, Type 2 diabetes
which some argue is an inflammatory
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