by: Cheryl Millett, July 2, 2009
“An open mind creates the avenue to learn and not to judge, to listen so that you can hear something that you haven’t heard before. Each of us has choices to make in this adventure called life…it is only yours to make.”
– Cheryl Millett
Omegas use to take up one shelf in a health food store but now they take up a bookcase. True or not true?
Omegas support many functions in our body, such as, decreasing inflammation, improving circulation, brain and hormonal functioning, and much more. My favourite is the importance around the cell wall. The cell wall acts as a gateway to nutrients entering into the cells and processed material out including cellular waste. We are only as healthy as our cell wall! Can you imagine not having a door on your house to let you in or out? Nor having windows to let light and fresh air in?
One of the most important factors to consider is the body’s balance of Omega 6 and 3. The ratio in our bodies is currently being communicated as 1:1, Omega 6 to Omega 3 just like in breast milk and in the baby’s blood serum.
A deficiency of Omega 3 is positively correlated with over 50 diseases and illnesses including Cancer, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Stroke, and Arthritis.
A landmark study by Japanese researchers show scientific evidence that the leading cause of disease in Japan, if not the world is the increase amounts of unhealthy Omega 6s and decreased amounts of healthy Omega 3s. Western degenerative diseases have risen in a near perfect linear fashion with the eliminated of Omega 3, and the over consumption of Omega 6 in the diet. It appears that saturated fats may not have the issue, as it appears to be more closely related to a rise in vegetable oil consumption.
With the review of over 600 peer-reviewed studies accounting for all known and suspected causes for degenerative illnesses, let’s consider what the Japanese researchers have to say themselves as taken from the study summary:
“We summarize the evidence that increased dietary linoleic acid (Omega 6) and relative Omega 3 deficiencies are risk factors for western type cancers, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and also for allergic hyper-reactivity. We also raise the possibility that a relative Omega 3 deficiency may be affecting the behavioural patterns of a proportion of the young generation in the industrialized countries.”
Since the Industrial Revolution, our diet has caused our ratios to be at least 10:1, and up to 20:1 or even as high as 50:1. Too much Omega 6s in our diet causes it to produce arachidonic acid which causes inflammation. Common ailments include arthritis, lung cancer, MS, inflammatory bowel syndrome (IBS) or Crohn’s disease but because every disease has an inflammatory component then diabetes, cardiovascular and cancers are also included.
There are three sources of Omega 3s, plant, fish and mammal (breast milk or harp seal). The problem with plant sources is that we do not convert much of what we consume, perhaps 2-5% if we are fortunate to have the system/digestion to make the conversions. Fish is a popular source, however, fish is naturally high in Omega 6s, an average ratio of 10:1 depending on the fish source. Could fish oils be problematic for those that already have a disease? Yes.
A mammal source of an Omega 3 such as the harp seal has been recently discovered as a result of studies done on the Inuits. The Inuits on their natural diet of raw seal blubber twice a day (with only fish twice a week) seemed to produce no cardiovascular disease. The correct balance of Omega 6 and Omega 3 is crucial to our health. For a healthy balance, consuming a proper ratio of healthy omegas would assist our body to attain health benefits.
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