Higher levels of omega 3 increase longevity according to an 11 year study.

Hi everyone,

Unfortunately busy life styles and multi tasking has taken its toll on the diets of many as convenience and fast foods are consumed at the detriment to our overall health. As sadly lots of fast foods are high in calories yet low in nutrients so we have to realise that food is our fuel it's what sustains us keeps us fit and healthy physically and mentally. And we know how unhappy being over weight can make us so it's up to us to establish whats really important to us so we can make better choices for our own sake. .

We all know the benefits of eating a healthy balanced diet including as many whole foods as possible including omega 3 fatty acids. This is based on. a US study started in Michigan where they have been monitoring people for 50 years and for this study monitored 2200 people over 11 years, the resulting thinking is that higher levels of omega 3 can increase life expectancy by around 5 years!

Here's an article in Science daily, please see:

sciencedaily.com/releases/2...

And for those who want to increase their omega 3 levels here's a link with the foods highest in omega 3:

healthline.com/nutrition/12...

At the end of the day a balanced diet is not an austere diet but a diet that sustains us and our personal needs and literally gives us the strength to cope in this modern busy world of ours.

And I've realised after reading this that I don't eat enough omega3 rich foods.

[springcross]

Thanks Jerry, but the two links are the same. Should the second link be different?

[Hidden in reply to springcross]

Thank you springcross I'm sorry about this so I've edited the post.

[springcross in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Jerry. 🙂

[Subtle_badger]

Thanks Jerry. Interesting data.

If you are buying tinned fish for it's omega-3, check the ingredients. Only buy fish in brine/water or olive oil. There is evidence that a traditional human diet, the ratio of omega-6:omega-3 was something like 1:1, and now it's 10 or 20:1, and this is causing us harm. If you buy sardines in sunflower oil, and you ingest a teaspoon of that, you will get more omega-6 than omega 3 in the snack, undermining the benefits.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/124...

I find tinned fish useful to test am-I-really-hungry? If I am hungry enough that opening a tin of sardines and eating them with a fork appeals, then I know it's real hunger not boredom or snacky-ness.

[Hidden in reply to Subtle_badger]

Hi Subtle_badger thank you for this as highlights how much less omega fats than we used to and our bodies need.

[Subtle_badger in reply to Hidden]

The change in ratio isn't because we are eating less omega-3, but we are eating so much omega-6. They are in most vegetable oils (aka seed oils), and even a century ago we ate practically zero seed oils.

[Hidden in reply to Subtle_badger]

Thank you Subtle_badger as this makes sense.

[Whydothis]

Thank you for these links - a useful reminder and a good source of info. It is reassuring that I am eating fairly well from this point of view!

[Hidden in reply to Whydothis]

Hey that’s great that you eat well as it’s important to enjoy our food and I enjoy treats.

So good for you as it’s ideal to have a balance established.

[Blueruth]

My take is it is a good reason to add fish and a couple more grains to your diet. They couldn't have been eating only that. If you make your diet rich with whole foods you don't have to worry about this as much. I have salmon and chia in my diet regularly. Chia is pretty cool actually.

[Hidden in reply to Blueruth]

Hi Blueruth this shows that we need a balanced and nourishing diet and it’s made me think about tweaking my diet.

[Blueruth in reply to Hidden]

It reads like it is focusing on omega 3. Produce does not have omega 3.

[Hidden in reply to Blueruth]

Hey I know it’s just a nice photo of healthy food I wondered if anyone would say something as I didn’t have anything pertinent to omega3.

[Subtle_badger in reply to Blueruth]

Which grains have omega-3? It's in several seeds (flax/linseed and chia) but I am not aware it's in any grains.

Happy to learn.

[Blueruth in reply to Subtle_badger]

Seeds

[Zest]

Hi Hidden

I love the photo of all the colourful produce - it looks delicious. Thanks for sharing the information about Omega 3's as well.

Zest

[Hidden in reply to Zest]

Hi Zest I love this photo, it was a contender for the banner for HE with all that lovely produce.

[Subtle_badger in reply to Hidden]

Oh! Should I report you for not giving photo credit?

🤭

[Hidden in reply to Subtle_badger]

Hi Subtle_badger I don't know the source of the photo as its from non copyrighted photo's as we are not allowed to use a copyrighted image for a HealthUnlocked banner.

Copyright violation is the responsibility of members which's why I mostly use my own photo's its just I've used this image as my avatar.

Your image is copyright protected © purityproducts.com

So you ought to have their permission to copy and use it.

[Subtle_badger in reply to Hidden]

The copyright/credit thing is a distraction, and not the point I meant to make.

When the new rules came in, there was no discussion, and this one has troubled me: "Please post original photos only".

I think your usage of that photo is perfectly reasonable, but it's against the rules. Can we modify the rules to allow posting of 3rd party photos, assuming copyright is OK (eg creative commons) and attribution is given, if known?

[Hidden in reply to Subtle_badger]

Thanks and we've only just updated the guidelines so I don't want to break them.

[animefan94]

It’s because unhealthy food won’t break the bank. Healthy food is better, but there’s a catch. More expensive. We need to solve the problem of healthy food being too expensive in price,

And then maybe more people will eat healthy.

[Hidden in reply to animefan94]

Sadly this is very true animefan94 and one of the biggest causes of diabetes and obesity,

[Subtle_badger in reply to animefan94]

No. The problem is that unhealthy foods are too cheap. Grain farmers lose an average of £9,000 pounds a year, which is made up for with government subsidies. If manufacturers had to pay the actual price it costs to the grow the grain, then the price of junk food would rise, and healthy foods would look less expensive in comparison - or maybe we could move the subsidies to the healthy foods, and make them more affordable.

fullfact.org/economy/farmin...

But that brings in the next problem: our simplistic nutrition advice makes it impossible for a busy person to even know what is healthy. This is the warning label on sardines in olive oil, which would make it seem like a food to be avoided than embraced.

Traffic lights warning, high fat! 😱

[Cooper27 Administrator in reply to Subtle_badger]

Someone once had a look at the traffic light system to see how helpful it was. They found that the healthiest food in the whole supermarket, based on the traffic lights system alone, is actually sugar free green jelly.

[Subtle_badger in reply to Cooper27]

Yeah, that and of course we all should eat more greens!

[Rachmaninov2 in reply to Subtle_badger]

“we all should eat more greens!” Not me, my intake of greens is probably more than the ‘norm’.

Veg.

[MadBunny in reply to Rachmaninov2]

Unfortunately for me I'm not a fan of greens. I think my mum's habit of boiling them til they were all horrid and slimy put me off for life. The smell was awful and even now I can't stand the smell of cabbage and cauliflower , so I can't eat it😝

[Rachmaninov2 in reply to MadBunny]

It’s a shame you’ve been put off but I know what you mean about the smell of boiled cabbage. Do you like spinach? I like it with garlic and cheese, it just needs to be wilted. 🙂

[MadBunny in reply to Rachmaninov2]

I like it raw in salad. Never tried it cooked.

[Rachmaninov2 in reply to MadBunny]

It’s probably better for you raw so you’re doing the right thing. Do you think you need to eat more greens?

[MadBunny in reply to Rachmaninov2]

Probably considering I don't eat any apart from salads

[Rachmaninov2 in reply to MadBunny]

It’s good that you’re eating salads, me too, and I try to add a variety of ingredients.

[Blueruth in reply to animefan94]

It is true that it is more expensive but it is not as expensive as people make it out to be. There are ways to stretch that money and still eat healthy. remember you are fighting messages from corporate advertising who want you to eat their products. That makes it hard to make those smart choices assuming you even know what they are. Nutrition isn’t exactly taught in schools the way it should be.

We totally can feed everyone too. There is no excuse for not being able to provide a box of healthy food to anyone that needs it. Logistics is the problem not availability.

[Hidden]

Money only buys nice things Hidden as we know it doesn't buy happiness love or good health.

[Subtle_badger in reply to Hidden]

I don't know about happiness or love, but money certainly increases our chances of good health.

A graph showing how life expectancy increases with GDP

[Subtle_badger]

We should be focusing on health span and not life span. You want a long and healthy life followed by a short illness and quick death (or be shot by a jealous lover!) Eating healthy foods is how you get there.

My friend Nan is 97 this year, and still plays tennis. She has lots of friends and family, and an excellent quality of life. Who wouldn't want to live that life? The only sad things about her is she was widowed nearly 40 years ago, and misses him every day. But they had 30 good years before that.

[MaCherie112]

Thanks for sharing! It’s way to tempting (& convenient!) to revert back to convenience foods!!!

[Subtle_badger]

You seemed to be saying that at age 75 you have the choice of living with underlying conditions or being dead.

There are other options.