Can the kind of fats you eat really be a major culprit in lowering your immune system, arthritis, cancer, and heart disease?
Dr. Andrew Weil a Harvard Medical School graduate and internationally-recognized nutrition expert, says they can.
He says dietary fats are vital to health, because they either promote or combat inflammation, and as I have said before, inflammation is the root cause of many modern diseases.
The diet you eat plays a big role in inflammation, and knowing how foods influence the inflammatory process is the key to reducing disease.
So, knowing which fatty acids boost and which reduce inflammation is vital to your health.
The good and the bad.
There’s a fatty acid found in most cooking oils. It’s also in margarine and lots of low-fat products. This fatty acid is called omega 6. Dozens of studies show it increases inflammation.
It is best to avoid corn oil, safflower and sunflower oils, and mixed vegetable oils because these hydrogenated oils are processed and cooked up in a lab. Your body thinks they’re toxic, which kick-starts the inflammatory process. They also block the enzymes that process the ‘good’ fatty acids, those that reduce inflammation.
The ‘good’ fatty acids are called omega 3 fatty acids and there is lots of research to show they fight inflammation. Great sources of omega 3s are fish, lean meat, and vegetables.
So your diet needs to be high in omega 3s and low in omega 6s. But most of the food we eat contains an adverse ratio. It’s often high in omega 6s and low in omega 3s. In fact, processed foods can have up to 15 times more omega 6 than omega 3 fatty acids.
Combat Inflammation through Diet
Your diet should be free of all hydrogenated oils and margarines, so avoid all products made with partially hydrogenated oils of any kind. Cook with olive oil or rapeseed oil as they do not go rancid at high temperatures and studies show that they cut the activity of ‘adhesion molecules.’ These molecules promote inflammation. So cooking with these oil fights inflammation.
Best Way to Cut Inflammation
Fish may be the best inflammatory reducer. There are literally dozens of studies that show fish consumption is vital in combating inflammation. However it is best to buy wild–caught fish, such as Alaskan salmon, sardines, herring and mackerel, rather than farm raised fish, because they contain fewer inflammation-triggering toxins. Reports have shown that farm raised fish contain 10 times more toxins than wild salmon, and wild-caught fish also have a better ratio of omega 3s to omega 6s.
Reduce Inflammation – Fast
You can combat inflammation even more effectively with a daily fish oil supplement.
If you are not eating oily fish at least twice a week, take supplemental fish oil, in capsule or liquid form.
These supplements are rich in EPA and DHA, which fight inflammation. Trans fatty acids block the production of EPA and DHA, so these great supplements replace them.
Fish oil supplements reduce the levels of inflammatory-pro compounds, including prostaglandin E2 and CRP so start taking them now to keep your immune system up and your inflammatory markers down.