Importance of Omega 3

To Your Health: The Importance of Omega 3

In the realm of healthy eating, most fats fall on the bad side of a diet – you want to stay away from fat as much as possible. However, some fats – particularly Omega 3 fatty acids – are vital for the body and for your health. So what makes Omega 3 so important and how do you get more of it?

In truth, Omega 3 fatty acids serve a wide variety of health benefits. Laurie Tansman of the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York explains it simply on a recent article on WebMD, that Omega 3, “plays a vital role in the health of the membrane of every cell in our body; it also helps protect us from a number of key health threats.” In addition, the American Heart Association states that these fatty acids “benefit the heart of healthy people, and those at high risk – or who have – cardiovascular disease.”

Basically, Omega 3 is important to your diet because of the critical role it plays in preventing a number of health issues, while at the same time, boosting the overall health of your body. These unique fatty acids help reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, plus reduce symptoms of hypertension, depression, ADHD, joint pain, rheumatoid arthritis and possibly even Alzheimer’s.*

So, with all the health benefits, why aren’t people getting enough Omega 3 in their diet? The American Heart Association recommends that you only need to incorporate two meals that are high in Omega 3 into your diet per week, so why is it so difficult?

The simple answer is that foods that are high in Omega 3 aren’t a typical part of the average American family’s diet. The most common foods you can find that are high in Omega 3 are fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, herring and anchovies. There are also good Omega 3 levels in walnuts, tofu and flaxseed. Some people use fish oil, but the taste definitely takes some getting used to and it may just be easier to get it through your regular diet.

The good news is that a lot of the foods listed above are ideal for grilling, so your electric grill is the perfect place to start getting these foods into your weekly intake. Salmon is one of the most popular fish used in grilling and can be done with a variety of different ways, so it’s an ideal candidate to incorporate into your diet at least once a week.  Then, you just need to do another fatty fish like mackerel or herring, or if you’re family has a really adventurous palate, possibly a grilled tofu dish.

However you decide to get more Omega 3 into your family’s weekly diet, the important thing is that it’s there. Just substituting one regular meal for a weekly fatty fish dish is a start – not to mention breaking up the monotony of beef and chicken every night of the week. If you’re looking for good Omega 3 recipe inspiration, this delicious Pacific Rim Salon Dish is a great start.

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* http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/good-fat-bad-fat-facts-about-omega-3

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