Tag Archives: omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid ratio

What Is The Only Australian Plant Crop That Has Ever Been Commercially Developed as a Food?

David Mendosa says the answer is the macadamia nut.

Paleobetic diet

Macadamia nuts

From a paleo perspective, a great thing about the macadamia nut is that it’s one of the few nuts with a good omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid ratio. In other words, it’s high in omega-3 and low in 6. This may have important cardiovascular health implications. Macadamias are one of the nuts I recommend on my Paleobetic Diet.

David writes:

The first Australian macadamia plantation didn’t begin until the 1880s. And not until 1954 with the introduction of mechanised processing did commercial production became viable. Nowadays about 90 percent of the the world’s macadamia nut production comes from Hawaii, where it has become its third most important crop, according to The Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition, University of California at Berkeley (1992).

Read the rest, where you’ll learn that macadamia nuts are the highest of all nuts in calories, gram for gram.

Paleobetic diet

Macadamia nuts on the tree

Omega-3 Supplements Fail to Prevent Age-Related Cognitive Decline

I like fish, but cold whole dead fish leave me cold

Consumption of omega-4 fatty acids, mainly from fish, is thought to prevent dementia and certain types of heart disease such as heart attacks and dangerous rhythm disturbances. For those who don’t like fish or can’t afford it, would taking omega-3 fatty acid supplements be just as effective?

Unfortunately, supplementation does not help prevent age-related cognitive decline and dementia, according to an article at MedPage Today.

The respected Cochrane organization did a meta-analysis of three pertinent studies done in several countries (Holland, UK, and ?).

The investigators leave open the possibility that longer-term studies—over three years—may show some benefit.

I leave you with a quote from the MedPage Today article:

And while cognitive benefits were not demonstrated in this review, Sydenham and colleagues emphasized that consumption of two servings of fish each week, with one being an oily fish such as salmon or sardines, is widely recommended for overall health benefits.

Consumption of cold-water fatty fish also helps return our dietary omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid ratio toward our ancestral level.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Reference:
Sydenham E, et al “Omega 3 fatty acid for the prevention of cognitive decline and dementia” Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012; DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD005379.pub3.