Nutrition counseling for those who want to feel healthier

Omega-3 Fatty Acids: annotated Reading List

1.) The Anti-inflammation Zone, B. Sears (Regan/Harper Collins, 2005) 396 pages.

This book is one  of a series that relate to a diet called the Zone, a moderate diet that reduces grains and high glycemic food.  The author was in the forefront in research into eicosanoids, which are produced by the essential fatty acids, some turning inflammation on and some turning it off.  We need both kinds if our immune systems are to work efficiently, and they should be in balance.  Too much omega-6 in the diet means more inflammation.  Diet plans and recipes are included.

2.) The Modern Nutritional diseases -- heart disease, Stroke, type-2 diabetes, Obesity, and Cancer -- and How To Prevent Them, A. and F. Ottoboni (Vincente Press, 2002) 200 pages.  See especially chapters 2and 7.

Chapter 2 explains the science and the processes involved in human digestion in a way that is accessible and comprehensible and Chapter 7 is dedicated to lipids.  The material is complex and subtle and more is constantly revealed as researchers uncover new information.  However, the explanations and especially the diagrams of the metabolism of the essential fatty acids and their products are very helpful.  This book delivers on its title and will help anyone trying to prevent those illnesses.

3.) Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon with Mary Enig, (New Trends, 2001) 634 pages.

This is a cookbook with a seventy page introduction about human nutrition inspired by the work of Dr. Weston Price who, in the 1930s, traveled the world to investigate traditional diets.  Although he didn't know about the Omega fatty acids, he identified many fats that fall into that category as being necessary elements to the diets of the cultures he studied.  Cod liver oil is a prime example.

The Omega Plan, A. Simopoulos and J. robinson (Harper Collins, 1998) 366 pages.

Half this book is given over to meal plans and recipes.  The first half explains the importance of fatty acid balance in the diet, how we get less of the omega-3s and more of the omega-6s -- unless we live on the Isle of Crete, where people eat lots of fish and cold pressed virgin olive oil.  It was the health of the Cretans that first got this researcher looking at diet and fatty acids.  This book offers some quite specific dietary information regarding cancer prevention.  At ten years old, it seems a bit dated, but still definitely useful.

4.) The Queen of Fats, S. Allport (U.California Press, 2006) 203 pages.

If you want to read the exciting story of how scientists came -- slowly and in fits and starts -- to recognize first the existence of the essential fatty acids and then the importance of omega-3s, this very well written book is for you.  It elucidates the science as it goes along, woven in with the personalities and the breakthroughs as we come to see how important omega-3s are to our health.

October, 2008