Essential Fatty Acids Omega-3 and Omega-6

December 27, 2009 By 1 Comment

Healthy Fats – Omega 3 Healthy Fats can  help reduce cravings.  Society has finally gotten over the “fat free” craze and realized that fats are important to human development.

In fact, there are certain fats called “Essential Fatty Acids” that play an important role in your body’s functioning. These fats are so important that you should take extra steps to get them into your daily diet. These essential fats are found in polyunsaturated fats.

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) are necessary fats that your body can’t make on its own. They must be part of your diet. You may have heard of Omega-9s. These are not “essential” like the Omega-3 and Omega-6, and are thought of as “good” fatty acids.

Benefits of Essential Fatty Acids

EFAs help support your cardiovascular, reproductive, immune and nervous systems. You need them to help manufacture and repair cell membranes. They help your cells get the most out of the foods that you eat and get rid of the chemicals and toxins that are in your body.

What Foods Contain Omega-3s?

Omega-3 is also known as Alpha-Linolenic Acid (LNA).

Omega-3 is found in oily fish, such as salmon, herring, sardines, trout, tuna, and rainbow trout.
Other sources include canola oil, flaxseeds, and hempseeds.
You can also find Omega-3 EFAs in dark green vegetables like broccoli, kale, seaweed and spinach.

What Foods Contain Omega-6s?

Omega-6 is also known as Linoleic Acid (LA).

Omega-6 is found in safflower oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, sesame oil, hemp oil, pumpkin oil, soybean oil and walnut oil.

Omega-6 May be in our Diets in Excess

Because so much oil is used in the North American diet – you may have an excess of Omega-6 in your diet. The ideal ratio of EFA Omega-3 to Omega-6 is 3:1. In other words, you should have 3 times as much Omega-3 as Omega-6.

Most people actually need to reduce their Omega-6 and increase their Omega-3 intake.

In all cases, you should keep your fat (and even Essential Fatty Acids) – to less than 25% of your daily dietary intake.

Omega-3 and Weight Loss

Omega-3 fatty acids are particularly beneficial because of the role they play in weight loss.

They help regulate your blood sugar levels, and help with cravings and excess hunger. This could contribute to lowering your risk of diabetes and obesity.

A recent study published in the International Journal of Obesity showed a link between Omega 3 fish oil and the number of calories burned in a day. The study compared the calories burned by a control group versus the calories burned by test subjects who received 1.8 grams of fish oil supplements per day.

The results showed that the test group burned 26% more calories each day. The researchers also found that the group that took the supplements experienced 50% lower insulin levels. Not only were they burning more calories, but also their bodies were producing less fat due to the fish oil. Insulin increases the activity of enzymes that store fat. Less insulin means less fat storing activity and less weight gained.

Omega-3 Supplements

Taking Omega-3 fish oil capsules is a great way to get the benefits of fish oil without eating fish. You can also use one tablespoon per day of flaxseed oil to get your daily dose of Omega-3. Adult men need roughly 1600 mg of Omega 3 fatty acids per day. Women need at least 1100 mg per day. If you’re a woman who is pregnant or breastfeeding, you should increase your daily intake to 1500 mg.

While excess consumption of other types of fat can lead to obesity, heart disease and high cholesterol, essential fatty acids like Omega 3 and Omega 6 can improve your health and well being.

Filed Under: Cravings Weightloss Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Christmas Holidays Healthy Eating Tips

December 8, 2009 By 6 Comments

A Few Healthy Eating Tips For Your Holiday Survival
By Tammy Embrich

There are many fortunate people that don’t have a concern in the world about gaining weight during the holidays, or at anytime for that matter.  Then we have the unfortunate people that seem to gain weight from just looking at all the festive treats.

For most families the holiday season bring lots of family get-togethers and festivities to attend.  Of course these times are quite the challenge for those individuals who have weight issues.  Let’s face it when you’re watching your waistline, it’s hard to resist when you’re presented with all your culinary favorites.  But there are many simple things you can do to help prevent yourself from gaining weight this time of year.

Below are a few tips I’d like to share with you about striving to stay as healthy as possible throughout the holidays.  Hopefully they will be of some help.

1. Exercise daily.
Make sure you do some type of exercise everyday. Walking is ideal, weather permitting of course. Some people power walk and others just walk normally. Either way is good for you as long as you do it consistently. To make it more enjoyable, get a walking buddy to go walking with you. You may also find it helpful to bring along a cd player or a Mp3 player. When the weather does not cooperate, maybe try out some videos or a treadmill.

2. Make water your best friend.
Drinking water daily is healthy for a number of reasons.  The main rule about drinking water is it keeps you hydrated of course.  But it also aids with weight loss and maintenance.  Before sitting down to a lavish holiday meal, drink a full glass of water. You’ll be surprised by how less you will consume at each meal. It’s a good idea to do this before every meal you eat, not just at holiday time.

3. Raw veggies and low fat dips.
While out at holiday parties always look for those decorative raw veggie trays.  Often times these type of gatherings have them.  Opt for healthy veggies over high calorie and high fat foods.  Chex mixes are also healthful choices.

Christmas Holiday Healthy Green Smoothie

4. Small meal or snack before going out.
If you’re planning to go out to eat or to a party, eat a very small meal or snack before you leave.  This will discourage overeating and will also help to speed up your body’s metabolism.

5. Say “no” to alcohol.
Drinking alcoholic beverages is not a good choice if you’re watching your weight.  They are loaded with fat and calories. Bottled water or low fat green tea is a much better choice.  Also low fat smoothies are always good for you.

6. Baking with unsweetened applesauce.
If you love to bake during the holiday season, try substituting applesauce for sugar, butter, or eggs in those recipes.  It cuts down considerably on fat and calories.  Recently I used unsweetened applesauce in a brownie recipe and both my husband and I really liked them.  Try it for yourself in a few of your favorites.

Please Note:  Substituting applesauce in some recipes may not work out well. You will need to do some experimenting and maybe some research.

Just by following the simple tips above, you can lower your risk of reading those unwanted higher digits on your scale at the end of holiday time.

Article Written By Tammy Embrich

You can find more articles, recipes, tips, and more at Free Recipes – Cooking At Home.

Tammy also offers free job leads, work at home articles, business tips, and more at Work At Home Jobs

I hope the article above helps you to eat healthy and curb sugar cravings and cravings for junk food and high fat food during the upcoming Christmas Holidays, and through 2010!

Diana Walker, Cravings Coach
CEO, Diana’s Healthy Lifestyles

Filed Under: Cravings Weightloss Tagged With: ,