Monday, February 9, 2009

Not all Fat is Bad

Omega-3 Not All Fat Is Bad for You!
Not all fat is bad for you. There are fats your body needs to work at its best. Welcome to the world of Omega-3 fats.
Let me show you what I mean. Did you know the native people of the arctic circle whose diet consists of probably the highest fat intake in the world, seal blubber, whale blubber, etc. have virtually never heard of heart attacks?
Now, why is that? That's the question I asked when I started my research on fat and how it affects us. Then I came across a copy of the following book "Your Life is in the Balance", by Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez Aragon.
Now here is a man who knows fat and what I think is the truth about fat.
Below is an extract from this book. And I am trying to obtain the name of the company at the moment so I can let you know where to get a copy if you want one.If you know of the publisher, please Contact Us so I can add a link here.
So here we go again more independent info.
Benefits of Omega-3 in the Health of the Nervous System The brain is indeed the most astonishing organ of the human body. It controls thousands and thousands of activities and empowers us to perform with vitality,velocity and strength; it also gives us the ability to laugh, cry ,love, organize, classify, retrieve huge amounts of information and understand its meaning. Therefore it should be obvious to us that the brain needs to perform all of its functions optimally.
In short, it is generally believed that excess fat in the diet is harmful to health, for it brings with it a host of degenerative diseases.
However, as mentioned before, we cannot just randomly reduce the fat in our diets; we must be careful to include good fats, for they are essential for bodily functions and particularly for the brain.
It has been proven that appropriate reduction of bad fats and increase of good fats can determine the quality of memory, concentration, mental acuity, coordination, and influence the genesis of vast array of neurological and psychiatric conditions going from epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and depression up to behavior problems and attention disorders.”
(Wow, we need to get those Omega-3 supplements into us)
“This fundamental knowledge that can act as the foundation for important discoveries in medical science. It seems that medical doctors have forgotten that the neurons, dendrites and axons that compose the nervous system are made basically from fat. Probably this fact has not been considered important because of the past belief that fat had little influence in the brain, which was somehow protected against the dietary habits of their owners.
One can't help but be impressed when reading some medical literature cases, such as: a man who came out of a comatose state; a woman who overcame severe depression; someone who overcame his fears; a child who could walk after being paralyzed; a girl who stopped having trouble at school; and those violent adults or children both transformed into calm and respectful individuals.”
(And I have testimonies from parents of children who took our supplements that you would not believe)
“The main point that cannot be ignored by all these cases is that, more then any other nutrient, the kind of fat we have in our diet has the power to expose our true nature – one that may have once laid dormant inside us. This undeniable confirmation reveals that dietary fats and oils mark the fate of the kind of learning, memory, attitude, behavior, sensations and intelligence a person can have.
Recent animal studies show that in the area of the brain associated with memory,the hippocampus, nerve cells can regenerate themselves, an idea once thought to be impossible. These studies lead us to conclude that our brains may be structurally and functionally improved if we provide them the appropriate needed nutrients, along with a stimulating life, rich in intellectual and spiritual experiences.
The knowledge of brain lipids enlightens us all to consider new and exciting possibilities for those who wish to enhance endurance, performance and personal achievements. At the same time, this same information gives new hope to patients with degenerative neurological diseases and mental disorders. Additionally, depression and anxiety problems, so common in all ages but especially in the aging, could be prevented and healed.
(Lipids? Did he say Lipids? Hey, that’s one of the components in our supplement that works) An eminent physician and researcher, Jeffrey Blumberg, tells us that this may be the only modern biology where a complete change in the biochemical terrain can be attributed to a change in the molecular structure at the atomic level.
One simple modification in the fatty acid structure has such a profound influence on the brain and can be able to affect a whole range of behavioral responses and functions. In other words, it has the power to change who we are.
There are now literally thousands of medical articles with discoveries on the roles of lipids in the brain.
Researchers have found in the brains of patients with multiple sclerosis that their brain tissue was low in important fatty acids, such as DHA, and also they had low blood levels, meaning there were almost no reserves in their tissues. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) found that patients with hyperactivity and attention deficit disorders often had lower levels of Omega-3 fatty acid DHA in their blood compared to blood samples from those without the disorders. Behavior and school performance as well as aggression can have similar relationship to such critical fatty acids.
In Australia, the blood of hundreds of people with depression was analyzed and researchers discovered that the essential fatty acid balance was significantly altered and -the Omega-3 level was very low.
Moreover, cases of learning and memory problems, mood swings, behavior disturbances, shakes, numbing, development retardation, seizures, autism and other brain related disorders like cerebrovascular disease (thrombosis, strokes) have been corrected or improved when enriching the diet with the right fats and oils.
Monkeys that were born from parents that consumed low quantities of Omega-3 fatty acids before their conception and during pregnancy had litters with poor visual acuity, 50% below normal, and the DHA level in their brains was only one-sixth that of normal.
Even though it is biologically gifted to perform thousands of functions, the brain’s structure depends totally on fats in the diet. In other words, if good fats are not supplied in the diet, cerebral structure can be altered and if it changes, its functioning changes too.
This is where the problem and the potential are so closely intertwined. The average person, living on a modern diet, obtains nearly 40% of his calories from fat. Unfortunately, this abundance has not been translated into an advantage for the nervous system; on the contrary, the benefit is nullified because the fats so desperately needed by the brain are not consumed.
As we learned in the forth part of this book, the types of fats consumed have drastically changed in the last decades, There is an estimated 80% decrease of brain fats consumption, secondary to a shift to animal, trans-fats and processed foods. The Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acid ratio used to be 1:1; now it has been estimated to have risen to 30:1.
Highly specific fats required by the brain, along with erratic dietary habits, lead to an unbalanced situation within our systems. There is plenty of evidence showing that we are consuming a diet with fats not appropriate for building or maintaining an optimally functioning nervous system.
This could be the common denominator to neurological, behavioral, learning and memory disorders which, until now, were treated with psychotropic drugs while ignoring their relationship to dietary fat.
The potential for better health and longer life is dependent on our correct understanding of this new knowledge, effecting dietary changes that could assure cellular functioning. The good news is that adult performance and even cerebral disorders can and should be improved if appropriate changes are implemented now. Besides the knowledge that brain structure is continually changing, we can take the opportunity to modify it by correcting the fats we eat.
“Brain fat” is a term that refers to dietary fats required for proper nervous system functioning; the brain is not the exclusive site where they are found, but it is there that the highest concentrations are found.
A more common term used by scientists is neural fats. Included among them are certain types of dietary lipids, which can be used to control several neurological and intellectual disorders, and for stress management. Main brain fats are: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), Eicosapenteinoi acid (EPA), Arachidonic Acid (AA), Gamma Linolenic acid (GLA), Alpha-linolenic Acid (ALA), Phosphatidylserine (PS) and Phophatidylcholine (Lecithin).
The information on how these fats influence the brain can entirely transform the notion of neurosciences. As a matter of fact, this discovery can turn into one of the most important of the 21st Century. We are on the threshold of an era where we will discover the power to change the very core of the self; the brain.
Astounding biological feats, like vision, balance, coordination, reaction, intellectuality, action, are all due to the vast complexity of human brain and nervous system. Even for neuroscientists, all of these mechanisms that take place are almost incomprehensible. The level of neural integration needed to accomplish such activities would make the greatest computers on earth look like toys. Simply put, the nervous system is one of the wonders of nature.
But for the brain to achieve its optimum potential and to perform at maximum capacity, it must receive proper nutrition and stimulation in the critical stages of its development. With regard to the predominance of fat in the brain, it is said that 60% is fat and 45% of that is the omega-3 fatty acids (DHA). That is why cerebral structures and functions have a crucial dependency on critical fatty acids that are only obtained through food or supplementation.
It is a difficult idea to comprehend that such a complex structure as the brain is mainly comprised of fat. Nevertheless, this is not random composition, but rather a highly specific and accurate design. It is only when the role of dietary fat in the construction and maintenance of a healthy brain is understood that its importance becomes evident.
Nervous systems cells (neurons) are designated to signal the information needed to control bodily functions. Surrounding nerve fibers is a fatty substance called myelin, which functions to accelerate nervous impulses transmission in a more efficient and rapid way. Myelin is composed of various lipids, fatty acids, phospholipids, cholesterol and protein. Thus, nearly 75% of myelin comes from dietary fat due to the fact that our body cannot manufacture essential fatty acids.
Several pathological processes of various diseases lead to the destruction of the myelin sheath, as happens in multiple sclerosis. Many theories exist regarding its possible etiology, but considering the host of anomalies in fatty acids, we could have a basis to conclude that dietary fat could very well play an important role in the development, prevention and treatment of this disease.
In children, myelin formation is crucial for the proper development of their nervous systems. There are certain critical stages during which nerve fibers must myelinize. It is a well known fact that if the proper type of stimulation is not provided in the right time, the incomplete nervous connections among neurons, nerves and muscular cells may become weakened.
One of the astonishing characteristics of the brain is its ability to make new connections based on new experiences. The brain is constantly being modified by new experiences; the neurons involved are branched to connect with other areas of the brain, linking more cortex area. These connections are called synapses.”
Wow, as you can see this is a doctor who knows his fats.
So lets have some info from another separate source shall we.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Even better then we thought...
The latest scientific news is telling us that omega-3 fatty acids are even more beneficial than previously thought. From decades of research, scientists have established the benefits experienced when omega-3 fatty acids are part of our diet.We know that omega-3s play a critical role in the optimal function of heart, blood and blood vessels, balanced auto-immune response, and brain development.1Now, recent studies have confirmed the benefits of fish oil on mental health conditions, as well, including Alzheimer’s and depression.
Here’s The Latest . . .
A recent study at Tufts University in Boston has revealed some exciting news regarding the link between omega-3 fats in the diet and the risk of dementia in elderly men and women.
Researchers used a questionnaire to determine the diet of a large group of men and women whose average age was 75. For the next ten years, the test group ate a diet rich in DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid, including approximately three meals of fish per week.2 The results showed a significant decrease in the onset of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, described as a “…48% reduction in risk of dementia in elderly men and women.” 2 According to Dr. Ernst Schaefer, senior scientist and director of the Lipid Metabolism Laboratory at Tufts University, these results are consistent with a previous study, which showed that in a sample of adults aged 65-94, those who ate fish at least once a week had a 60% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s.2 “These dramatic results show how older adults can play a significant role in their neurological health by increasing their intake of fish, fish oil, or especially DHA,” noted Schaefer. DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) has been the subjects of thousands of scientific studies.3
That’s A Lot Of Fish!
Although the necessity for omega-3’s in the diet is well documented, many people find the recent recommendation of the American Heart Association to eat oily fish at least two times per week to be impractical. For this reason, many people are choosing to take dietary supplements containing these critical fatty acids.
Not surprisingly, there are many omega-3 products on the market. Unfortunately, most fall well short of offering the best-sourced oils available.
Time for a break from reading have a look at these cool videos, just click on the camera. Some contain undesirable oils from shellfish, shark, other scavengers, bottom-feeders, or sea mammals. Even those featuring salmon oil often fail to exclude the internal organs of the fish, which may increase exposure to substances that collect in organs (herbicides, pesticides, heavy metals, and vitamins A and D).
Not ours omega-3 salmon oil provides omega-3 fatty acids from one of nature’s richest sources, salmon.
Omega III Concentrate is an exclusive GNLD combination of omega-3 rich fish, all of which contain naturally high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Both products are rich in the omega-3 fatty acid DHA. Also, both products are derived from healthy, fresh fish that are carefully screened, certified, and selected for human consumption.
In addition, GNLD insists on “body oils” only for its omega-3 products.
Only the edible portions of the fish are considered when selecting oils.
Finally, GNLD maintains the same balanced ratios of omega-3’s in its products that are found in nature.
GNLD’s omega-3 products have always been the best. And continued scientific research keeps showing how good they are!
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