Topic: omega-3-fatty-acids

Good Soy, Bad Soy And How To Tell The Difference Between The Two

It’s something of an eternal debate in health foodie circles: Should one eat tofu? Drink soy milk? Veggie burgers? Soybean oil? Is it good? Bad? Neutral? More »

Darn: Study Says You Need To Eat Fish (Not Fish Oil) For Omega-3 Benefits

We’re kind of bummed to hear about a new review of medical studies that concluded you need to actually eat seafood to get the brain health benefits of omega-3s; those gigantic fish oil supplement pills don’t really cut it. Eating fish high in omega-3 fatty acids has been shown to reduce the risk of stroke, but taking supplements of omega-3s does not have the same effect. More »

Fish Oil Isn’t Suddenly Useless–Here’s Why You Should Still Take It

A UK study released today has Web news headlines blaring that omega-3s may not protect your brain after all. Oh really? We say don’t chuck your fish oil supplements just yet. There are plenty of good reasons to take omega-3 supplements, even if they don’t wind up helping with memory and brain health. But more importantly, the study was only conducted in adults 60 to 80 years old. More »

Hope For Alzheimer’s: Early Diagnosis Helped Mimi Steffens Combat The Disease

Mimi Steffens was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease about six years years ago. Since then, the 83-year-old retired math teacher has published a book on county school houses in Pennsylvania, started a support group for other early-stage Alzheimer’s patients, and shown improvements on certain tests that measure cognitive ability. As a volunteer and voice for the Alzheimer’s Association, she presents a surprisingly hopeful picture of what the future of living with early-stage Alzheimer’s could look like. More »

More Evidence Omega-3s Can Keep You From Going Senile

A new study from Columbia University Medical Center certainly isn’t the first to link omega-3 fatty acids with brain health, but it is the first human study to link them with lower blood levels of beta amyloid, the protein used to mark Alzheimer’s risk. The more omega-3s someone consumed, the lower their blood level of beta amyloid, the researchers found. That means a diet high in omega-3s could help stave off dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. More »

Beyond Raw: Omega-3s Have Made Raw Food Pioneers Rethink Their Diets

Victoria Boutenko is one of the pioneers of the modern raw foods movement. She’s been a raw gourmet chef, and her books—like Raw Family, about her whole family’s 1994 conversion to a 100% raw diet—have helped scores of people learn about raw foods. But in Boutenko’s latest book, Raw & Beyond, she and co-authors Elaina Love and Chad Sarno (both raw chefs) explain how they’ve moved “beyond raw,” largely due to new science regarding omega-3s. We posted a recipe from Raw & Beyond for merlot pickled onions yesterday (in addition to essays from each author, the book features recipes and a great chart of the ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s in various oils and nuts). The following is an excerpt adapted from Boutenko’s section of the book, explaining what motivated her to start eating (and advocating) cooked foods again after nearly two decades eating 100% raw foods. More »

6 Ways To Sneak More Omega-3′s Into Your Diet (Even If You’re Vegan)

Everywhere you look these days, health experts are touting the benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids, a type of polyunsaturated fat that could help lower blood pressure, prevent heart disease, treat depression and boost brain health. The most commonly named sources are oily fish or fish oil supplements. But while fish is the most common dietary source, there are plenty of vegetarian/vegan ways to get your Omega-3′s. Click through for 6 of these sources, including flaxseed oil, chia seeds and purslane. More »

Supplement Showdown: Krill Oil Vs. Fish Oil

If you’re concerned about brain, breast, or skin health, odds are, you’re already taking (or have already considered taking) some sort of fish oil supplement. And if you watch television, even if only at the gym, you’ve probably also been introduced to the new supplement that claims to be even better than fish–krill. But what exactly is krill, and is it necessarily better? More »

Buy The Right Fish: Wild-Caught Vs. Farm-Raised

I know I should eat more fish—it’s one of the consistent links between most healthy diets—but I’m often deterred by both cost and confusion over what’s the ‘good’ or ‘bad’ kind of fish to buy. Farm-raised or wild-caught? Is frozen okay? What about canned tuna or smoked salmon? Which kinds have too much mercury? And is cheap fish necessarily bad (because that $2.50-per-pound perch is calling my name …)? Between my health, the environment and animal rights concerns, I’m lost. More »

What We're Reading:

Cow’s Milk, Donkey’s Milk, Goat’s Milk: How About No Milk?

New research suggests that, instead of the go-to dairy choice of cow’s milk we should be drinking donkey’s milk, because it’s loaded with omega-3 fatty acids and calcium. Lab tests on rats revealed that it’s not as fattening as cow’s milk, and therefore is less damaging to arteries while providing greater levels of energy. May I be the first to say – gross. I think drinking from milk from an ass makes you look like an ass (I’m so clever). In fact, let me go one step further: I don’t think we should be drinking the milk of any other species, full stop. More »

Diet Dilemma: Fried Fish or No Fish?

Anyone who likes fish tacos or fish burgers is familiar with this diet dilemma: Fish is full of good fats, but is it still okay to eat if it’s been battered and fried? Packed with healthy protein and good fats, fish is one of the few foods that nearly every (non-vegan) diet plan includes; the omega-3 fats stave off cholesterol, inflammation, and they’ll even do things like help your skin and hair. Win! But are all those pros enough to make it worth breaking the rule of no fried foods? More »

Tilapia’s Dirty Secrets Prove That More of Us Should Just Be Vegan

Osama bin Laden stole the New York Times front page yesterday, but the story that was originally slated to splash onto top news was about tilapia, a fish so popular and versatile that it’s overtaken tuna as “chicken of the sea.” In recent years, it’s popped up on menus and fish counters everywhere but, like most fish that doesn’t come in a can, most of us are unaware of where it comes from or how it gets to our plate. What’s more, most of us don’t realize that the tasty fish is far from nutritious. But what “Another Side of Tilapia, the Perfect Factory Fish” really proves to me is that, instead of seeking out the best kind of animal to provide our omega-3 and protein, more of us should just consider going vegan. More »

Depression Isn’t A Prozac Deficiency: 6 Natural Reasons You Might Be Depressed

Blisstree’s no enemy of prescripion meds when you need them; in fact, some of us are of the opinion that the demise of talk therapy might be good for depressed patients, who seriously just need a psychiatrist to meet their needs. But proponents of functional medicine, like Dr. Mark Hyman, say that attitude isn’t the best approach. Instead of treating depression like a Prozac deficiency, he says, we need to figure out what’s causing our mood shifts (and other chronic symptoms) in the first place.

“Just knowing you have depression isn’t helpful,” he said at a recent event hosted by New York City’s Urbanzen Foundation. He and other proponents of functional medicine say that diagnosing patients with a disease doesn’t bring them any closer to a cure. Instead of racing to a diagnosis and prescription meds, we should be searching for the source of our symptoms, which he says is often easy to cure without prescriptions or extreme treatment measures. More »

Beauty Product Review: Carol’s Daughter Black Vanilla Hair Smoothie

What’s in it: Sweet almond oil, wheat germ oil, cocoa seed butter, shea butter, sunflower seed oil, rapa seed oil, fatty acids, Omega-6, Omega-3, and a few unpronounceable ingredients that I wouldn’t want to meet on a standardized test.

What’s not in it: Parabens, petroleum, mineral oil, or artificial colors

What it feels like: Nice. Not greasy, and completely absorbs into my hair, which often looks and behaves like a rat’s nest. Also rinses easily off the hands, which if a product doesn’t, is always a dealbreaker for me.

What it smells like: Edible. It smells edible. But that’s not all. Its scent will take you back to the long, leisurely summer days at the beach: Sun, sand, surf, coconut tanning lotion, sunsets, screened porches, summery cocktails – it’s all in there. But I don’t actually detect much vanilla (which, for me, is a good thing, because I don’t actually like vanilla-scented beauty or bath products.) And, of course, now I can’t get my nose out of my tub of Black Vanilla Hair Smoothie. More »

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