48 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • OCTOBER 2017 48 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2017 48 LONGISLANDPRESS.CO M • SEPTEMBER 201-----------TUTU111
BETTER YOU
The omega conundrum
Craig Zalvan, a scientist at the
Feinstein Institute for Medical
Research on Long Island, published
research last month that suggests a
plant-centric diet battles acid reflux
better than popular medicines.
He suggests eating plenty of fruits,
vegetables, grains and nuts. Foods
to avoid? Dairy, eggs, beef, chicken,
fish, pork, coffee, tea, chocolate,
soda, greasy and fried food, spicy
foods, fatty foods and alcohol.
Let’s call it the Serf Diet. Not much
need for a cookbook!
Luckily, there are tweaks we can
make to our eating habits that
aren’t quite so draconian. That requires
generally leaning toward the
Mediterranean Diet, which features
lots of fruits and vegetables, whole
grains, legumes and nuts, small
amounts of meat, large amounts
of fish and plenty of good bread,
all washed down with a modest
amount of red wine.
(OK, I added the red wine part.)
Beyond curing your acid reflux, the
Med Diet gives you a balance between
omega-3s and omega-6s, two
fats our bodies need but don’t have
the enzymes to produce, hence the
term “essential” fatty acids.
Unlike most fats, which provide
energy or are stored by the body for
later use, omega-3s and 6s are biologically
active and play big roles
in processes like blood clotting and
inflammation. Inflammation helps
protect our bodies from infection
and injury – the swelling around
a sprained ankle, say – but it can
also contribute to disease when
the inflammatory response goes
overboard.
Excess inflammation plays a role
in everything from heart disease to
diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer’s and
many types of cancers. Reduced
inflammation is credited with
lowering the risk of osteoporosis
and bone loss, reducing anxiety, depression
and bipolar disorder and
improving cognitive function.
Food historians say humans once
consumed equal amounts of the
two fats, the omega-3s from foods
like fish, nuts and dark green
vegetables, the omega-6s from
dairy and poultry. But the rise of
packaged foods after World War II
led to a surge in omega-6 fats in the
western diet, largely from the use of
vegetable oils.
The average American now consumes
15 times more omega-6s
than 3s.
(Feeling puffy? Now you know.)
Boosting your omega-3 intake isn’t
hard. Here are a few tips to get your
omega balance down to a healthier
4 to 1 ratio:
Add more fish: Especially fatty,
cold-water fish like salmon, trout
and halibut, sardines and fresh
tuna, but oysters and shrimp are
good, too. Oh, and caviar.
Check the oil: Canola is the best
bet for frying and sautéing; use
olive oil for sauces and dressings.
Check the label on everything else.
Go green: Kale, spinach, broccoli
and brussels sprouts are all high in
omega-3s. Ditto cauliflower. And
avocados.
Watch the eggs: Farmers increase
the omega-3s in egg yolks by feeding
their hens flaxseed and fish oil.
That’s good. But eating one small
piece of salmon a week provides
more omega-3s than two eggs a day.
And a fraction of the cholesterol.
Prefect omega-3 menu: Spinach
salad with walnuts in an olive oilbased
vinaigrette, salmon cakes
with ginger sauce, flax seed-chocolate
cookies for dessert.
Don’t forget the wine.
– JOHN KOMINICKI
OMEGA-3 SOURCES: Anchovies, arugula, baby food, basil, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, canola oil, capers, caviar, chia seeds, cloves, cod liver oil, edamame,
egg yolks, flax seeds, fruit juice, grape leaves, halibut, hemp seeds, herring, kale, macadamia nuts, mackerel, margarine, mayonnaise, milk, mint, mustard,
oatmeal, oregano, oysters, pine nuts, pizza, pumpkin seeds, salad dressing, salmon, salmon oil, sardines, sea vegetables, shad, soy milk, spinach, squash, tarragon,
trout, turnip greens, tuna, walnuts, wheat germ, white fish, yogurt