What You Should Know About Essential Fatty Acids

Although the importance of essential fatty acids has become a mainstream topic, many people still don’t know exactly what they are or why they’re important. As a result, it’s common for such people to be consuming them in imbalanced or inadequate amounts and be wasting money on supplements that they don’t need.
As with most widespread health information, the food industry takes full advantage of the benefits and popularity of essential fatty acids by using them to market foods that are highly processed and unhealthy. Because of this, many people are consuming these critical fatty acids from less desirable sources and may be compromising their health as a result. To avoid this, it’s important that you know what essential fatty acids are, what they do, and what the best sources are.

The Best Sources of Essential Fatty Acids
As with most nutrients, the most natural and sensible approach is to obtain essential fatty acids from natural whole foods which is exactly what we’ve been doing for millions of years.
Walnuts, flax seed oil, chia seeds, and hemp seed oil are common sources of the essential omega 3 fatty acid ALA. Seafood is an excellent source of the conditionally essential fatty acids EPA and DHA which aren’t always properly derived from ALA. Vegetable oils are the most common source of the omega 6 fatty acid LA, and its conditionally essential derivative GLA is found in borage oil, black currant oil, evening primrose oil, and hemp seed oil. Meat, dairy, and eggs from pasture raised animals are all good sources of both omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. By following a diet that’s based on a healthy balance of these foods and doesn’t include excessive amounts of vegetable oils, essential fatty acid balance should take care of itself and be of little concern.
For the highest quality sources of essential fatty acids, choose meats, eggs, and dairy from pasture raised animals and wild caught fish from minimally contaminated water. If you choose to use supplements, fish oils, or vegetable oils, be sure to get them from a reputable source and store them properly to minimize the risk of oxidation and rancidity. Although supplements and oils are reasonable choices, I prefer to rely mostly on seafood, pasture raised meat, and raw nuts for essential fatty acids.

Eat Well to Help Reduce Your Risk of Cold

Eating health-promoting foods that increase immune function is a major factor in preventing flu and colds. That's because it's not just a viral infection in your upper respiratory system that causes a cold - it's your body's susceptibility to the virus that really counts. Many factors - including stress, exposure to toxins (such as cigarette smoke and polluted air), excessive exercise, and poor sleep - influence your body's susceptibility to flu and cold viruses. Getting important immune-supporting nutrients from your food, while reducing your intake of food additives that can stress your body, is a very important step in promoting health, both in cold and flu season, as well as throughout the year.

What foods to eat more often

The World's Healthiest Foods are health-promoting foods that help prevent flu and colds. Select foods rich in vitamin A (including beta-carotene and the other carotenoids), vitamin E, and vitamin C. The best sources of vitamins C, A and carotenoids include carrots, spinach, cabbage, kale, red bell peppers, mustard greens, oranges and melons. Many aspects of our immune function are compromised when we are deficient in vitamin C, so much so that Nobel Prize-winning chemist Linus Pauling paid special attention to vitamin C in some of his later work. The vitamin A foods are critical for supporting the lining of our lungs and function of our lymph glands. You can use our Recipe Assistant to find recipes that contain these foods, like our Mediterranean Kale or our Romaine and Avocado Salad. Vitamin E foods are critical for maintenance of our white blood cell function. (Our white cells are one of the major components of our immune system). Foods rich in vitamin E include the green leafy vegetables, sunflower seeds and almonds. Once again, our Recipe Assistant will take you to some tasty examples of vitamin E-supplying meals including our Steamed Salmon and Asparagus.
The minerals selenium and zinc are also particularly important when it comes to immune support. Both of these minerals are commonly found in nuts, seeds, and mushrooms, as well as calf's liver when it comes to zinc and fish when it comes to selenium. The thymus gland, which has been called the "master gland" of the immune system, is an immune organ that seems especially responsive to our zinc levels. When we don't get enough of this mineral in our food, our thymus gland clearly becomes compromised in its ability to help keep us protected from infection. Selenium is no less important due to its influence on our immune cell (macrophage) function and its ability to help protect our immune cell membranes from oxygen damage.
Finally, the omega-3 fatty acids are needed to produce our immune system regulators (called prostaglandins). These high-quality essential fats are largely deficient in the U.S. diet. You couldn't do better here than flax seeds, walnuts, and cold water fish like salmon.

Healthy Food For Optimal Health

The first thing to go was dairy. All of the years that I was consuming massive amounts of cheese was taking a toll on my health. Almost immediately upon giving it up, the majority of my migraine headaches disappeared. Another astonishing revelation was when, just as quickly, I no longer needed the Afrin nasal spray I had come to depend on to clear my sinuses for 35 years! I couldn't leave the house without it. Now my need for it had disappeared. I had no idea that all of these issues were being caused by dairy.
Suddenly it was obvious, but for years I went along consuming dairy and suffering side effects without ever putting the two together. To improve my health on all counts, I realized that I needed to get back to basic, simple foods. No more processed junk foods, no more saturated fats, and no more refined white flours and sugars. So, along with dairy, I cut them out of my life. I now eat a mostly plant-based diet that is rich in nutrients and full of vitamins.
I buy organic when possible to avoid the pesticide and herbicide residues that are so prevalent in conventionally grown produce. I cook my meals from scratch. No more cans, packages or boxes (with a few exceptions). I now use my creativity and Google savvy to put together healthy meal ideas that work for my family. I noticed an immediate improvement to my health. I not only started to lose weight, and ultimately slowly and steadily lost 50 pounds, but I started to feel like my younger self again. More energetic, less achy, clearer skin.
I found that by merging elements from a vegan diet and a raw food lifestyle I could satisfy my family's needs of eating healthy. The elements that I incorporated from the raw food diet is not only eating more vegetables in their raw state, but also eating foods that are "pure". In other words, foods that are not processed or otherwise adulterated. They don't contain chemicals or additives as they are mostly freshly made and consumed. However, it was not feasible to prepare only non-cooked foods 100% or the time. Although, I do try to eat at least 50% raw each day.

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