Dr. Linda Posch MS SLP ND is a strong advocate of whole food and phytonutrient rich diet as the first line of defense and safeguard for health and wellness Healthy Fats For Vegetarian and Vegan Diets. How To Get The Right Balance of Omega 3 & Omega 6 In Your Diet? Hemp seed oil!!
Hemp Seed Oil For Vegan and Vegetarian Diets
Eating healthy fats lowers the risks of cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes, and improves our chances of living a healthful life. And it's easy to get Omega 3 fatty acids in our diet. Use only cold pressed pure (familiarly Virgin) hemp seed oil
What Are Omega Fatty Acids?
Omega 3 and Omega 6 are the two main categories of Essential Fatty Acids (EFA's), which are important for good health. They are not made by our bodies and must be obtained from foods or supplements. Omega 9 are necessary to health, but aren't called ''essential'', because the body can produce Omega 9.
Omega 3 Fatty Acids are obtained from Linolenic Acid, Omega 6 from Linoleic Acid, and Omega 9 from Oleic Acid. hemp seed oil
* EFA's have been enjoying a heyday for several years since research has proven that they play a major role in helping to maintain good health.
* EFA's boost the nervous, immune, reproductive and cardiovascular systems.
* EFA's are vital in cell membrane formation and function, through which nutrients are absorbed into the cells and waste excreted.
* EFA's are important for everybody, from babies to the elderly.
When properly combined with other essential fatty acids, Omega 3's help to produce abundant health and prevent some degenerative diseases. This article explains the critical role of Omega 3's and other EFA's in human health.
One of the biggest challenges for the vegan and vegetarian diet is getting a proper balance of healthy fats. With our contemporary, industrialized diet, it's easy to become deficient in essential fatty acids (EFA), derived from healthy Omega 3 fats.
We all benefit from an overall healthy diet, but the right ratio of healthy fats is vital to our health and well being. This is especially relevant to people in wealthy and industrialized countries with rich, but not-so-healthy diets. These diets typically have lots of polyunsaturated, or ''bad fats''.
Most of the degenerative diseases involve eating the wrong kind and the wrong amounts of dietary fats.
Vegetarians, Vegans, and Omega 3
Research Shows Vegetarians Deficient in Omega 3 Fatty Acids.
The Department of Food Science at the Australian RMIT University has indicated that typical omnivores have higher Omega 3 blood levels than vegetarians.
Another study, performed at the Research Institute of Nutrition in Slovakia studied a group of children ages 11-15 years over an average length of 3.4 years:
Americans are generally low in essential Omega 3 fats. Our national diet of processed foods, fast foods, and skipping meals altogether has played a major role. For the most part, we don't understand our body's need for EFA's, and don't know how to include them in our diet. Surprisingly, it seems that vegetarians and vegans are particularly vulnerable to Omega 3 fatty acid deficiencies.
Benefits of Omega 3 Fatty Acids
Other research reveals that Omega 3 fatty acids actually minimize inflammatory responses, lowering the risk factors for heart disease and cancer.
Omega 3 is necessary for cell wall manufacture and pliability; which allows for optimal intake of nutrients and oxygen, and the excretion of wastes. Omega 3 is necessary for the healthy development of nerves and eyesight.
Since Omega 3's are highly concentrated in the brain, this helps: memory, brain performance, mood & behavior (depression, Schizophrenia, bipolar, ADHD), learning, thinking, cognition, and brain development in children.
Omega 3 also helps to treat conditions such as: diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, high cholesterol, hypertension, weight loss, asthma, burns, skin problems, eating disorders, nerve myelin sheathing, hormone maintenance, energy, and allergies.
10 were semi-vegetarians, 15 were lacto-ovo vegetarians and seven were pure vegans. This group was compared to a group of 19 omnivores. Whereas the lacto-ovo vegetarians and the omnivore group showed exactly the same amount of Omega 3 in their blood, the semi-vegetarian group was somewhat deficient. The vegan group was most deficient and was found to have substantially lower blood levels of Omega 3, compared to the later groups.
Many of the oils we use for cooking are comprised of linoleic acid, which is one reason why our Omega ratios are off kilter. Soybean oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, and cottonseed oil are routinely used in processed foods. Many of these oils are refined. To avoid over-consumption of Omega 6 fatty acids, reduce or eliminate refined oils and processed foods, and read ingredient labels.
Food Sources of Omega 6 Fatty Acids
There is no reason for any vegetarian or vegan to be deficient in healthy Omega 3 fatty acids, if they consume the dietary sources of Omega 3 listed above. Contents of hemp seed oil Read more
DHA is especially useful for pregnant and breastfeeding vegans, as well as diabetics and those troubled with high blood pressure or other forms of heart disease. To reduce the risk of heart disease, dosages of DHA are recommended at between 500 and 1800 milligrams. Pregnant and breastfeeding women are recommended dosages between 200-300 milligrams. Buy now Hemp seed oil
