To date, the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences has not yet issued any Dietary Reference Intakes for omega-3 fats. Recently, however, the National Institutes of Health recommended that people consume at least 2% of their total daily calories as omega-3 fats. To meet this recommendation, a person consuming 2000 calories per day would have to eat at least 2 grams of omega-3 fats. Many nutrition experts believe that this recommendation is not high enough, and would suggest instead that people consume at least 4% of their total calories (4 grams) as omega-3 fats.

Food sources of omega-3 fats – flaxseeds and walnuts

At the top of the list for increasing omega-3s would be flaxseeds and walnuts. 1 tablespoon of flaxseeds contains about 1.75 grams of omega-3 fatty acids while 25gms of walnuts contains about 2.3 grams. In either case, the amount is pretty substantial. Therefore by combining 25gms of walnuts with a tablespoon of flaxseeds you will add close to the recommended 4 grams of omega-3 fats to your diet.

Food sources of omega-3 fats – beans

Flax seeds and walnuts are not your only choices, of course! 150gms of soybeans, navy beans, or kidney beans provides between 200 and 1,000 milligrams of omega-3s (0.2 to 1.0 grams). A four-ounce serving of tofu will provide about 0.4 grams of omega-3s. Therefore, these foods provide between 10% and 50% of the National Institutes of Health recommendation, and a substantial step up from the average adult intake.

Food sources of omega-3 fats – fish, and cold pressed rapeseed or olive oil

Three other types of foods are important to mention as omega 3 boosters: fish and cold pressed oils. In the case of fish, you’ll get about 2 grams from every 100gm serving of salmon; 0.6 grams from the same serving of halibut; and 0.4 grams from tuna.  For cold pressed olive oil, the amount of omega 3s per tablespoon is about 0.2 grams. Cold pressed rapeseed contains about around 2gms per tablespoon.

With both oils and fish, stay away from frying. Frying with oils will damage the omega-3s and deprive you of their health benefits. So will the frying of fish—even fish that contain omega-3s. In a research study that compared consumption of fried versus non fried fish and risk of atherosclerosis, consumption of fried fish was found to offer no health protection to the study participants, even when the fish contained omega-3 fats. Therefore, gently bake, poach or steam fish for maximum retention of health benefits. Cold pressed rapeseed oil has Omega 3 levels 11 times greater than olive oil and the ideal ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6, it can withstand heating without damage far better than olive oil and is therefore more suited for cooking, but should still only be gently heated.  Frying is best with saturated fats such as butter ghee, coconut oil or good quality animal fat such as goose fat as these can withstand the high temperatures without denaturing but they still should not be allowed to burn or smoke.

Practical tips

When it comes to increasing your omega-3 fatty acids intake, don’t worry about bringing your calculator to the kitchen. All you have to do is to focus on bringing more omega 3 rich foods into your diet.  Eating fish and seafood such as salmon, sardines, and mackerel a few times a week is an easy way to increase your omega-3 intake. Plus you’ll get all of the other nutritional benefits that these foods have to offer.  As noted, walnuts and flaxseeds can be important contributors to an omega-3 rich diet. To increase your intake of these foods, adding this nut-seed combination to salads, baked potatoes or granola is just one of the many ways to easily incorporate these foods into your meal plan. Additionally, if you grind nut butters at home, they could also be used in the above ratio as a nut-seed blend. (Although it is somewhat difficult to clean, a standard coffee bean grinder usually does fairly well as a nut-seed grinder than can produce a very creamy buttery blend.) If you like your nuts roasted, do so gently – in a 160-170 degree oven for 15-20 minutes – to preserve the omega-3 fats.

Foods concentrated in Omega-3 fatty acids

Omega 6 oils are common in the diet and are not usually necessary to supplement. Raw almonds or sunflower seeds are a good source of undamaged omega 6 oils and a few can be eaten daily to ensure their supply.

Using GLA, a body-ready source of omega 6 oil, can be helpful for some conditions, but should be used with caution.  GLA supplements are popular, especially for inflammatory disorders. GLA is found primarily in evening primrose, borage, and black currant oils. Many times it does provide great relief by stimulating anti inflammatory hormones to be produced in the body and does appear to help regeneration. But, excess GLA used long term can actually increase inflammatory problems if it is not balanced with sufficient EPA (or plain omega 3 oil if the conversion process in the body is working well). Sometimes this can take a month, sometimes six.  Dr Barry Sears and others who know fatty acid metabolism say that it should be supplemented in a 1:20 or greater ratio with EPA/DHA, in other words, 50mg pure GLA to 1000mg pure EPA. 

A final word on EFA supplements, buy good quality cold pressed and always keep in the fridge!

http://www.electroherbalism.com/Naturopathy/Therapies/Supplements/EFAs/index.htm

http://www.electroherbalism.com/Naturopathy/Therapies/Diet/FatsandOils/IntroductiontoFatsandOils.htm

http://www.justoil.co.uk/our-products/rapesee-oil

http://www.naturesbest.co.uk/fish-oil-1100mg-p516/      

http://www.naturesbest.co.uk/evening-primrose-oil-gla-500mg-p532/

Mushrooms are rich in the antioxidant selenium, a vital trace element needed for good health. One serving of mushrooms equals the daily recommended allowance of between 55 and 70 micrograms, this antioxidant fights cellular damage caused by free radicals that contribute to cancer and heart disease. Selenium regulates thyroid function and helps the immune system.
Serves 2
 250g button mushrooms, chopped

3 spring onions, chopped

200ml natural yoghurt

Handful of fresh parsley

½ pint chicken stock

Knob of butter

olive oil

Melt a knob of butter and a splash of oil in a large saucepan. Gently saute the spring onions until soft – slowly so they don’t burn.

When soft, add the chopped mushrooms and chicken stock. Cook slowly over a low heat until the mushrooms are soft.

Using a hand blender, liquidise the mushrooms and add the yoghurt. Season and serve with a sprinkling of chopped parsley.

 They are well known for their high vitamin C content, but also contain significant amount of vitamin A, B vitamins including niacin and riboflavin, magnesium, phosphorous and calcium.

Tomatoes are also a good source of chromium, folate and fiber.  In recent years a particular nutrient found in abundance in tomatoes is lycopene.  Lycopene is well known to help prevent prostate cancer, which makes tomatoes high on the healthy food list for men.

 1-1.25kg/2lb 4oz-2lb 12oz ripe tomatoes

1 medium onion

1 small carrot

1 celery stick

2 tbsp olive oil

2 squirts of tomato purée (about 2 tsp)

2 bay leaves

1.2l hot vegetable stock (made with boiling water and 4 rounded tsp bouillon powder or 2 stock cubes)

 Firstly, cut each tomato into quarters and slice off any hard cores. Peel the onion and carrot and chop them into small pieces. Chop the celery roughly the same size.

 Spoon the oil into a large heavy-based pan and heat it over a low heat. Tip in the onion, carrot and celery and mix them together with a wooden spoon. Still with the heat low, cook the vegetables until they’re soft and faintly coloured. This should take about 10 minutes, stir them two or three times so they cook evenly and don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

 Add about 2 tsp of tomato purée, then stir it around so it turns the vegetables red. Add the tomatoes and grind in a little black pepper, then tear each bay leaf into a few pieces and throw into the pan.

 Stir to mix everything together, put the lid on the pan and let the tomatoes stew over a low heat for 10 minutes until they shrink down in the pan. From time to time, give the pan a good shake – this will keep everything well mixed.

 Slowly pour in the stock, stirring at the same time to mix it with the vegetables. Turn up the heat to simmer, then turn the heat down to low again and put the lid back on the pan. Cook gently for 25 minutes, stirring a couple of times. At the end of cooking the tomatoes will have broken down.

Remove the pan from the heat and remove the pieces of bay leaf. Ladle the soup into a blender. Blitz until the soup’s smooth (stop the machine and lift the lid to check after about 30 seconds), then pour the puréed soup into a large bowl. (The soup may now be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost before reheating.)

 Pour the puréed soup back into the pan and reheat it over a medium heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally until you can see bubbles breaking gently on the surface. Ladle into bowls and serve. Or sieve and serve chilled with some cream swirled in.

 Nutritious sweet potatoes are low in calories; but are a rich source of dietary fiber, anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals.

They are storehouse of starch, a complex carbohydrate, which raises the blood sugar levels slowly on comparison to simple sugars; therefore, recommended as a healthy food even in diabetes.

 Ingredients

6 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

450mls chicken or vegetable stock

225mls water, or as needed

1 lime, juiced

300mls home made crème fraiche, or as needed

 Place potatoes and ginger in large saucepan. Pour in chicken stock and water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer until the potatoes have softened, about 30 minutes.

Puree potatoes and lime juice in a food processor or with a hand blender until smooth. Return soup to saucepan and stir crème fraiche as desired; heat until warmed through.

Rich in vitamins and minerals, it is also concentrated in health-promoting phytonutrients such as carotenoids (beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin) and flavonoids to provide powerful antioxidant protection.  vitamin K prevents calcification of arteries and other soft tissue, regulates normal blood clotting, improves bone health and reduce risk of bone fractures.

Ingredients:

50g butter

1 medium onion , finely chopped

2 garlic cloves , finely chopped

1 medium potato , peeled and chopped into chunks

450ml chicken or vegetable stock

600ml milk

450g fresh spinach , washed if necessary and roughly chopped

finely grated zest of half a lemon

freshly grated nutmeg , to taste

3 tbsp home made crème fraiche , to serve

1. Melt the butter in a large lidded saucepan, add the onion and garlic and fry gently for 5-6 minutes until softening. Stir in the potato and continue to cook gently for 1 minute. Pour in the stock and simmer for 8-10 minutes until the potato starts to cook. Pour in the milk and bring up to a simmer, then stir in half the spinach and the lemon zest. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the spinach has completely wilted down. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
2. Pour the soup into a blender (preferably) or food processor, add the remaining spinach (this will keep the soup bright green and fresh tasting) and process until silky smooth – you may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your machine. (The soup may now be frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost in the microwave or overnight in the fridge. The soup may lose some of its vibrancy on freezing, but the flavour won’t be impaired.) Return to the pan and reheat. Taste and season with pepper and nutmeg.  Dilute the soup with a little extra stock if too thick. Ladle the soup into bowls and swirl in the crème fraiche

Getting it bright green

The secret of a fresh-flavoured, bright green soup is to cook half the spinach briefly in the soup for depth of flavour, then add the remaining raw spinach when liquidising.

Ingredients

 1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, sliced

450g/1lb carrots, sliced

1 tsp ground coriander

1.2 litresl/2 pints vegetable stock

large bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped

freshly ground black pepper

Preparation method

 Heat the oil gently in a large pan and add the onions and the carrots. Cook for 3-4 minutes until starting to soften.

Stir in the ground coriander and season well. Cook for 1 minute.

Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Simmer until the vegetables are tender.

Whizz with a hand blender or in a blender until smooth. Reheat in a clean pan, stir in the fresh coriander and serve.

Broccoli is very high in vitamin C which helps protect cells and tissues from free radical damage, thereby helping to prevent cancer. Vitamin C also aids in dietary iron absorption.

Broccoli is also a good source of calcium which helps to maintain healthy and strong bones and helps with blood clotting.

Broccoli also provides a very good source of lutein and zeaxanthin which helps to protect cells from free radical damage and also plays a part in eye health.

 Ingredients

 1 cup of fresh sprouts
3 heads of broccoli
6 cups of water or more (enough to cover the vegetables)
1 whole fennel diced
1 vegetable bouillon cube
Handful fresh tarragon and ¼ cup fresh sage leaves

 Add cut broccoli to hot water. Simmer for 7 minutes. Turn off heat and add all other ingredients except the sprouts. Blend in a food processor.
Adjust soup consistency by adding more or less water. 
Add the sprouts into the blender at the end, or serve soup with whole sprouts as garnish. 
Vary the recipe by using different types of herbs such as fresh parsley, coriander or dill.

This is Part II of an article (Part I appeared in the April/May 2003 issue of NLJ) by acclaimed author Sally Fallon which presents the findings of Dr. Weston Price’s investigation into the diets of healthy “primatives”–cultures which had no contact with “civilization”. His research challenges assumptions about the contemporary American culture’s diet for health.

The scientific literature is clear about the dangers of polyunsaturated vegetable–oils the kind that are supposed to be good for us. Because polyunsaturates are highly subject to rancidity, they increase the body’s need for vitamin E and other antioxidants. Canola oil, in particular, can create severe vitamin E deficiency. Excess consumption of vegetable oils is especially damaging to the reproductive organs and the lungs–both of which are sites for huge increases in cancer in the US.

In test animals, diets high in polyunsaturates from vegetable oils inhibit the ability to learn, especially under conditions of stress; are toxic to the liver; compromise the integrity of the immune system; depress the mental and physical growth of infants; increase levels of uric acid in the blood; cause abnormal fatty acid profiles in the adipose tissues: have been linked to mental decline and chromosomal damage and accelerate aging. Excess consumption of polyunsaturates is associated with increasing rates of cancer, heart disease and weight gain.

Excess use of commercial vegetable oils interferes with the production of prostaglandins–localized tissue hormones–leading to an array of complaints such as autoimmune diseases, sterility and PMS. Polyunsaturated oils hardened to make margarine and shortening by a process called hydrogenation, they deliver a double whammy of increased cancer, reproductive problems, learning disabilities and growth problems in children.

The vital research of Weston Price remains largely forgotten because the importance of his findings, if recognized by the general populace, would bring down America’s largest industry–food processing and its three supporting pillars–refined sweeteners, white flour and vegetable oils. Representatives of this industry have worked behind the scenes to erect the huge edifice of the “lipid hypothesis”–the untenable theory that saturated fats and cholesterol cause heart disease and cancer.

All one has to do is look at the statistics to know that it isn’t true. Butter consumption at the turn of the century was eighteen pounds per person per year, and the use of vegetable oils almost nonexistent. Yet cancer and heart disease were rare. Today butter consumption hovers just above four pounds per person per year while vegetable oil consumption has soared–and cancer and heart disease are endemic.

What the research really shows is that both refined carbohydrates and vegetable oils cause imbalances in the blood and at the cellular level that lead to an increased tendency to form blood clots, leading to myocardial infarction. This kind of heart disease was virtually unknown in America in 1900.

Today it has reached epidemic levels. Atherosclerosis, or the buildup of hardened plague in the artery walls, cannot be blamed on saturated fats or cholesterol. Very little of the material in this plaque is cholesterol. A 1994 study appearing in the Lancet showed that almost three quarters of the fat in artery clogs is unsaturated. The “artery clogging” fats are not animal fats but vegetable oils.

Built into the whole cloth of the lipid hypothesis is the postulate that the traditional foods of our ancestors–the butter, cream, eggs, liver, meat and fish eggs that Dr. Price recognized were necessary to produce “splendid physical development” in “primatives”–are bad for us.

A number of stratagems have served to imbed this notion in the consciousness of the people, not the least of which was the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP), during which your tax dollars paid for a packet of “information” on cholesterol and heart disease to be sent to every physician in America.

In 1990, two generations after Weston Price conceived of studying isolated nonindustrialized people as a way of learning how to confer good health on our children, the National Cholesterol Education Program recommended a lowfat diet for all Americans above the age of two. The advantage of such a diet is supposed to be reduced risk of heart disease in later life–even though not a single study has shown such an hypothesis to be tenable.

What the scientific literature does tell us is that low fat diets for children, or diets in which vegetable oils have been substituted for animal fats, result in failure to thrive–failure to grow tall and strong–as well as learning disabilities, susceptibility to infection and behavioral problems. Teenage girls who adhere to such a diet risk reproductive problems. If they do manage to conceive, their chances of giving birth to a low birth weight baby, or a baby with birth defects, are high.

Compared to this folly, the wisdom of the so-called primitive in regards to ensuring the health of his children has inspired the awe of Weston Price and all who have read his book. Again and again he found that tribal groups–especially those in Africa and the South Pacific–fed special foods to young men and women before conception, to women during pregnancy and lactation, and to children during their growing years.

When he tested these foods–things like liver, shellfish, organ meats and bright yellow butter–he found them to be extremely rich in the “fat-soluble activators”–vitamins A and D.

For a future of healthy children–for any future at all–we must turn our backs on the dietary advice of sophisticated medical orthodoxy. We must return to the food wisdom of our so-called primitive ancestors, choosing traditional whole foods that are organically grown, humanely raised, minimally processed and above all not shorn of their vital lipid component.

Sally Fallon is the author of Nourishing Traditions, The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (NewTrends Publishing 877-707-1776, newtrendspublishing.com). She serves as President of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a non-profit nutrition education foundation located in Washington, DC.

Barbara believes that everything which causes stress to a person has an end manifestation as dehydration. Among some of the common causes of stress are a poor diet, excessive travelling and magnetic interference, living and working against the seasonal cycles and using modern drugs (e.g. antibiotics, steroids and the pill). However the most serious cause of stress is indeed vaccinations, which are like setting a top class athlete on the starting blocks and never firing the pistol: they will drop from adrenal exhaustion and dehydration.

To understand how deeply dehydration can affect the physical, mental and emotional well-being, one must be aware of a very simple, yet fundamental process common to all animals on this planet. This process is called ‘the sodium/potassium pump’ for reasons that hopefully will become clear in the course of this paragraph. During the day sodium is pushed inside the cells by the sun’s action, whilst during the night this process is reversed as the sodium is pulled out of the cell by the moon’s activity as we lie down. This process relies on the condition of the membrane surrounding each cell.

Stress, as for example a challenging diet comprising diuretics (e.g. tea, coffee, fizzy drinks, alcohol), excess salt and sugar, convenience foods and damaged fats, would drive the body to go on what Barbara calls ‘dehydration alert’. This starts a process where the body defends the precious fluids inside the cell by producing natural cholesterol to coat the cell membrane. Whilst this is a very beneficial temporary measure, it disables the cell’s vital ability to cleanse on a day to night basis and so a vicious circle is started. The more sodium is locked within the cell, the more water is needed to dilute it, hence the more water is locked within the cell, leading to water retention and bloating. The irony is that all this water is actually inaccessible to the rest of the body, which thus goes on ‘dehydration alert’.

All vaccinations cause extreme adrenal exhaustion and dehydration, which, in turn have an immediate effect on the body’s ability to cleanse. As our ability to cleanse is impaired, so our toxic load increases accordingly. Our body will do its best at any given time to preserve its most fundamental vital functions and so disease will naturally progress from a physical level to a mental level. As a result of the internal toxicity increasing consistently and dramatically ever since the Industrial Revolution, we are seeing a great deal of brain/head level toxicity in all of the central nervous system disorders: Schizophrenia, Autism, Eating Disorders, Dyslexia, Manic Depression, M.E., M.S., Parkinson’s, Aids and H.I.V.

Dehydration sets up a need for Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) and Phospholipids for the central nervous system, hence to maintain hydration in the body EFAs and Phospholipids are vitally important. The EFAs are responsible for 30 different prostaglandins which work directly with the endocrine system. This is, according to Barbara, the reason why there is a direct effect of the BCG vaccination on the central nervous system causing Anorexia. It is believed, in fact, that in Anorexia cellular changes occur in the frontal brain due to EFA and Phospholipid deficiency. “In 90% of the cases I have seen of Anorexia, the disease had developed within 6 months of the BCG vaccination. From that we can see that the stress of the vaccination has increased the dehydration problem and EFAs and Phospholipid destruction. The BCG vaccination is particularly damaging when given to someone who is already very ‘tubercular’, i.e. very dehydrated and struggling with body cleansing and showing deficiencies in EFAs and Phospholipids. A similar picture can be seen in Autism which is rapidly increasing with young children who are given so many antibiotics, steroids and vaccinations, so that their weakness picture goes from physical to mental very quickly.

This alarming picture throws the spotlight on the real culprits here, the real causes of long term disease. We are not talking about infectious diseases that vaccines are supposed to be targeting and which have been largely declining ever since the introduction of improved diets, sanitation and living conditions. The real offenders here are vaccinations themselves, along with antibiotics, steroids and similar prescription drugs. They all generate incredible stress to the body, draining it of vital energy and essential substances and creating fertile ground for long term disease to thrive upon.

This, with the overwhelming evidence that has recently been made available to the general public, arguing the effectiveness of vaccines and confirming the spectrum of their side effects, should provide ample doubts around the medical justifications for such a procedure.

  About the author:
Barbara Wren is Principal of the College of Natural Nutrition.

 Web site: http://www.natnut.co.uk

For an Introduction to Dietary Healing Principles, A Day With Barbara Wren

Go to http://www.futurevisions.org/cnn_contents.htm

copyright © Barbara Wren

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