Is Our Intake of Vegetable Oils Inflammatory?

Is Our Intake of Vegetable Oils Inflammatory? Some research suggests so.

Chronic inflammation is associated with the onset of many chronic diseases including heart disease and cancer. From eating different types of polyunsaturated fats, we can influence the presence of inflammation by the fact that certain hormone-like compounds called eisosanoids within the body are produced from polyunsaturated fats that affect blood clotting, blood pressure, immune function, and the inflammatory response. These fats are called omega-6 (inflammatory) or omega-3 (anti-inflammatory) fatty acids.

The problem is that the American Diet contains too many omega-6 and too little omega-3 fats. We ideally evolved on a ratio of these fatty acids as 1:1. Currently our diet has an unbalanced ratio of 1:20 of 6’s and 3’s respectively. The following article addresses the research that suggests that this issue may be partly responsible for our higher cancer rates than found in other countries with a more favorable ratio (closer to 1:1 of these fats. The last part gives us some sound advice on what to do with your diet to alleviate this problem.

CLICK HERE.

Lifestyle Factors and Dementia

There is a lot of attention being paid to the importance of lifestyle factors in the onset of chronic diseases we may encounter as we age. Alzheimer’s disease is dreaded by many people as well as other diseases such as heart disease, certain cancers, and diabetes.

For a comprehensive article on the latest findings and facts for prevention and/or delay of onset, CLICK HERE.

It’s important to realize that these factors are still controversial and need more studies to follow up their effects on chronic diseases; however, drug therapy is sadly lacking at the present time and healthy living is not toxic and may be less inflammatory to our bodies. Hopefully, as we learn more, healthy people can practice these lifestyles earlier in life rather than waiting until the disease process has begun.

Is Healthy Food More Expensive?

“Nobody disagrees: We Americans eat badly. We eat too many calories, too much highly processed food and not nearly enough vegetables.

Why is that? Ask the question, and you get a lot of answers, which is appropriate for a matter as complex as a country’s diet. But one of the answers that bubbles to the top almost every time is that nutritious food just costs more.” But does it?

Another factor that has affected our eating behavior more recently is “Where do Americans Eat?” Another factor is flavor, taste. Please read the Comments at the end of the article – they are always interesting and straight from the consumer’s standpoint.

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Red Meat: Use Some Common Sense

This debate still continues to capture the headlines – is red meat healthy or not for us or the planet? Food, Facts and Fads will continue to follow the research and attempt to offer some reasonable advice about this issue. Best approach? Be reasonable with your red meat consumption until further notice, but don’t panic. Americans are avid meat eaters and it’s difficult to know who to trust due to the biases of each side. For the latest CLICK HERE.