Omega 3 Diet

[claraluz 2]

Since my cholesterol and blood sugar are up again, I decided to take another look at this diet. It is a diet that emphasizes eating Omega-3 fats (olive and canola oil, mainly) over omega-6 fats (pretty much everything else). It also emphasizes eating 7 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. It is supposed to prevent heart disease, cancer, depression, etc. My friend's cardiologist ordered her to use this diet. Also, my psychiatrist suggested I take Omega-3 supplements to avoid having a relapse of depression. The health benefits are well-documented.

It is not primarily a weight-loss diet, though it can be modified to include weight loss (just eat less, of course). It may be difficult to do with the band, I don't know. I am thinking that the 7 servings of fruits and vegetables could be a problem. But today is my first day trying it, so we'll see. I'm just wondering if anyone else has tried to combine band-eating with this particular diet and if so, how it went.

Nancy

[Bright 9]

Hi Nancy - I definitely try to include a lot of Omega 3 rich foods in my diet such as mackeral, herring, tuna salmon, nuts and Omega 3 supplements! I also use estate bottled extra virgin olive oil but would not advise using canola oil - it is incredibly unhealthy - with most of the "good" omega 3 destroyed during processing and turned into trans fatty acids. Happily it is not easily available here in Ireland! (and the rest of europe I would guess....)

A typical lunch for me would be smoked mackeral with rocket (arugula) or spinach - I rarely have red meat or chicken, perfering to stick to organic fish or turkey....I definitely notice a difference in mood swings, and have not experienced a recurrance of depression since I adopted this way of eating - trying to cut out sugar too! I may not have 7 servings of vegetables every day but will have spinach/arugula/mustard leaf salad most lunchtimes, and find it a really easy way to eat important vegetables as salad instead of just boring lettuce. I eat a lot of pumpkin seeds and macadamia nuts and/or brazil nuts too! Apparently Macadamia Nut Oil is the healthiest oil of all....but if it's not available use Olive oil - but definitely NOT canola! If it wasn't for those damn Cookies I'd be REALLY healthy!

[claraluz 2]

Thanks, Bright. And thanks for telling me about the canola oil (even though I did just buy a bottle. I'm throwing it away). I sort of did the diet today (exept for those few tortilla chips I just ate). I need more practice, but I'm really going to give this a try.

Nancy

[New Hope 37]

Nancy, I'll be interested in hearing how you do. I know that I don't eat enough fish. I've never been really good at knowing how to prepare it interesting ways.

I use extra virgin olive oil. But I thought canola oil was good. Thanks for the warning, Bright.