Food News – Omega 3 Levels During Pregnancy May Affect Your Child’s Future Obesity Level |FoodPhysician.com
In the first major study of its kind, research from Harvard Medical School has highlighted critical links between the amount of omega 3 oil the expectant mother consumes and the subsequent propensity of the child to become fat – or even obese.
The research team, headed by Dr. Emily Oken, Associate Professor, Department of Population Medicine, found a sharp contrast in outlook for obesity levels in new born babies, depending on whether the mother ate balanced amounts of omega 3 and omega 6 oils in her diet or a higher level of omega 6.
Consumption of omega 3 oil – mainly obtained from oily fish, such as sardines, salmon, tuna and mackerel – has been highlighted in many studies as being beneficial for general health. Omega 3 fatty acids – in particular EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and (docosahexaenoic acid) DHA – have been shown to improve lipid metabolism, helping to prevent heart disease.
They are known as essential fatty acids, because the body cannot make them and so has to draw on outside sources.
Of particular significance to this research is the fact that these oils might reduce fat levels in animals fed a high-fat diet. Also research has found that imbalances in the types of fatty acids in the diet, promotes the development of fat tissue in animals. Until now, there has been scant research on the effect this might have on humans.
The recommended intake of DHA, during pregnancy, is 200 mg daily and this is particularly important in the last four weeks of the pregnancy when large amounts of omega 3 oils are required by the unborn child for brain development.
Omega 3 fatty acids can only be obtained from oily fish.
Flax seed oil and walnuts do contain a precursor to omega 3, called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), but the body must convert that to the required EPA and DHA.
EPA and DHA fatty acids are used to create the hormones controlling blood clotting, immune function and cell growth as well as components of cell membranes. Because it is when cell growth gets out of control that cancers are created. So, taking in sufficient of these fatty acids might play a role in cancer prevention.
Although, sources of omega 3 oils are restricted to cold water, oily fish, there are many sources of omega-6 fatty acids.
Omega 6 is found in nuts and seeds and in the oils extracted from them. Omega 6 is also present in vegetable oils, such as soy oil, which are present in virtually all cookies, crackers, candy and most fast food. Roughly 20 percent of the calories in the American diet are thought to derive from soybean oil.
Omega 6 fatty acids also provide the body with building blocks for hormones. However, hormones derived from omega-6 fatty acids tend to increase inflammation, blood clots (leading to heart attacks and strokes) and cell proliferation – the exact opposite of the effects of omega 3 fatty acids, which decrease those functions.
Ideally both types of hormones must be in equilibrium for optimum health and many nutrition experts think we used to consume omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids in roughly similar proportions.
But to our great detriment, most North Americans and Europeans now get far too much omega 6 and not enough omega 3. This dietary imbalance could explain the increasing cases of asthma, various cancers, coronary heart disease, auto-immune diseases and neurodegenerative diseases, all of which are believed to have their roots in inflammation.
In the Harvard study, the research team noted the mother’s omega 3 fatty acid intake and the level of omega 6 and omega 3 in the umbilical cord blood at delivery. They then extrapolated the chances of obesity in the child at three years old.
The study showed the odds of obesity in three year olds were between two and four times higher when cord blood had a high ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids.
In contrast, the odds of obesity were 30+% less, when the mother’s intake of omega-3s was high or if the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 in the cord blood was more or less balanced.
Natural Home Remedies
A medical doctor’s knowledge of nutrition and home remedies is often fairly basic. That’s because time pressures won’t allow them to keep up to date with almost daily discoveries about the guaranteed home remedies that spring from eating certain foods.
So they tend to have a better knowledge of pharmaceuticals than they do of the power of natural foods to alleviate – and even cure – medical conditions.
This is despite doctors taking the Hippocratic Oath. This is the ethos set out by Hippocrates — ‘Father Of Medicine’ which says … “Food should be thy medicine … and above all do no harm.”
The brutal truth is this …
Many pharmaceuticals do come with unpleasant side effects, and often require the prescribing of additional drugs to deal with these side effects. The net result is you could end up taking various medications – often for extended periods – possibly for the rest of your life.
Fortunately, there is a growing body of opinion in the advantages of certain healing foods for use as home remedies. Sometimes even a change in your lifestyle or outlook can be classed as one of the home remedies, because it brings about the most dramatic changes without requiring medication of any sort.
This opens up the bright prospect of even more truly effective home remedies, leading to better, more gentle ways of protecting against disease – and even reversing damage, simply by changing your diet and lifestyle.
Natural home remedies can help get rid of those embarrassing conditions:
And it is surprising just how many conditions where home remedies can be effective. Such as those mild – but embarrassing – conditions, such as acne, nail fungus, bad breath and body odor which can be very effectively dealt with by changes in diet.
And Natural Home Remedies can also save you from more serious conditions:
These include quite serious conditions, such as high blood pressure, where I know cases where folks have avoided the need for any medication to control this condition. And I’d even include kidney disease in that, because I know of cases where simply following a special kidney diet has allowed folks with even serious levels of kidney disease to avoid the need for regular kidney dialysis treatment.
And then there are conditions, such as kidney stones and gout, which can be very dangerous if left untreated but which don’t necessarily require medical intervention or surgery, if the right home remedy is used.
What’s more, couples who have been devastated by being told they cannot start a family have been astonishing their doctors by getting pregnant fast – sometimes in a matter of weeks, despite the medical profession having used every conceivable procedure and failing.
And the best news apart from their astomishing effectiveness – is the comforting knowledge that these natural home remedies are mainly based on simply eating more good foods, so there is virtually zero risk of any side effects – unlike with harsh pharmaceuticals.
Anti Aging Foods
I’m pleased to say, we now know a great deal about anti aging foods, that can help us live longer and healthier lives – in fact, I’m drinking one of them in the picture.
Time was when people worked until aged 65 and, after a few brief years of gentle decline, died.
Not any more. The so called, Baby Boomers, born in the late 1940s and 1950s and who grew up in the anti-establishment sixties, are saying “No way!” to a few brief years of sitting in a rocking chair on the porch and are pushing the boundaries of what defines “old age” further and further into the future. Anti aging foods is the phrase on the lips of everyone over the age of 50.
In the 1860s, the oldest person reached 101. It took a 100 years to reach 105 – in the 1960s. Yet, thanks to improving medical knowledge, a better grasp of nutrition, cleaner water, better housing and vastly improved healthcare, it was up to 108 by the end of the 20th century.
Yet many people are going to miss out on this bonanza, or at the very best condemn themselves to a life of chronic infirmity, simply because they don’t eat many – if any – anti aging foods. Instead, most of what they consume is ‘junk food’ not anti aging foods.
But the good news is: it doesn’t have to be like that, because how long you live and the quality of that life, right to the end, are largely in your own control. Enjoying a long healthy life largely comes down to those old chestnuts: the right anti aging foods in your diet and some exercise, nothing more.
So it’s largely a simple qusetion of being picking the types of anti aging foods you like and educating your palate to eat more of the anti aging foods you currently dislike. Add to that a bit of gentle excercise and you’ll be good to go on for a long, long time.
And don’t think, because you are a relative stripling of thirty something you can escape the sands of time, because autopsies on teenagers, killed in automobile crashes, have presented with distinct signs of early heart disease.
So it’s never too early to begin eating the anti aging foods that help to look after your heart. Because heart attacks are the #1 killer in the USA and your one heart has to last a life time!
As a “pre-baby boomer” of 67 myself, with a wife even older (I’m her ‘Toy Boy’), I have a deep personal interest in anti aging foods and lucky enough to live in a place where the average lifespan is 89 years, making it the second longest living place in the UK.
So this is the perfect place to research the anti aging foods and lifestyles that provide longevity.
So check out the good news about anti aging foods and get ready for a long, healthy and happy life! It could be the smartest thing you ever do!
Healthy Diet
Here are some healthy diet tips showing you the link between food and health, which I’m sure you’ll find invaluable. Because, almost every week, scientists report conclusions that confirm the vital link between a healthy diet and wellness, boundless energy and living longer.
So there can be no longer be any doubt a healthy diet determines not only the shape of our bodies, but also our general wellness — and even our longevity.
The brutal truth is this: “You are what you eat”. That makes complete sense, because your body requires a healthy diet, containing whole range of nutrients to repair itself and keep functioning properly. So, if you confine your diet to a certain group of foods – say steak for every meal – you are denying your body the full range of foods it needs.
So check out the healthy diet tips and allow me to wish you a long life, filled with good health!
