The following is a guest post by Brian, author of How To Live A Longer Life, who writes daily on his blog on the topics of disease prevention, nutrition, and longevity.
Omega-3 fatty acids have gained a lot of attention over the last few years and there are touted to be a key factor in staving or correcting heart disease. The American Heart Associationon their website that “Omega-3 fatty acids benefit the heart of healthy people, and those at high risk of (or who have) cardiovascular disease. We recommend eating fish (particularly fatty fish) at least two times a week.” But what about the other five days? Are we to assume that all nutrients should be had in significance only two days a week? Of course not. The AMA is merely providing a guideline that is realistic for people to follow; however it is not adequate in addressing our bodies needs for this nutrient. We should actively go out of our way to make sure our consumption ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s are in line.
If you need more evidence identifying the merits of increased omega-3s in your diet, note recent papers published in the Journal of the American Medical Association which showed that “even a modest increase in the consumption of omega-3s reduced the risk of death by coronary heart disease by 36 percent.” Also note the 2007 study by the National Institute of Health (NIH) which found a positive correlation between mothers’ consumption of omega-3’s during pregnancy and the fine motor skills and IQ’s of their babies. The case for omega-3s are very strong and the consumption of them in America is quite low predominantly because we don’t eat much fish or other sources of omega-3 fatty acids.
What then are alternative sources of omega-3s? If we can’t expect our lifestyle to change enough to eat fish every other day we can look to our other dietary sources. Flaxseed and walnut oil have good concentrations as do the spices cloves and oregano but for calorie count and foods of more substance you can look into tofu, walnuts, pecans, or many other nuts. Unfortunately however sources in the typical foods we actually eat large quantities of are fairly scarce. Of the many vegetables naturally high in omega-3 fatty acids (i.e. kale, lettuce, leek, etc.) we find lower concentrations. However there is one vegetable that is quite underrated: purslane, a leafy green that is often eaten fresh in salads in the Mediterranean and Middle East.
In the United States a comparable leafy green that is often used in its place is arugula (which does have some omega-3, just not as much) as purslane is often thought of as a weed or a nuisance. Maybe with a little more awareness and a smidge of experimentation more Americans will wake up to the advantages of throwing this green into our salads and stir frys. After all, most people who are health conscious eat a fair amount of veggies and greens; it should be quite easy to substitute one green for another on those days when you’re not eating fish or nuts.
Purslane is tangy to the tongue, adding exceptional flavor to dishes and it also contains more of the hard to get omega-3s that America diet’s so often lack. It actually contains more omega-3 EPA then any other plant! In my opinion this food should be added to Holiday’s list of super foods as I don’t know anyone that eats fish or flaxseed every day. After all, we all know that naturally occurring nutrients are far better for our bodies then supplements like fish oil capsules so this should be a welcome addition to a well rounded healthy diet.
If you enjoyed this post make sure to visit Brian and his regular readers over at How To Live A Longer Life.
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