From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Tue Sep 03 2002 - 10:23:31 MDT
Eugene responded to me offlist suggesting that I look into DHEA &
pregnenalone for dealing with SAD/depression. After a session
with PubMed it looks like one also might add Zinc (which I think
I'm getting enough of), Quinine, Neuropeptide-Y (which I don't
think consumers can get) *and* alpha-linolenic (Omega-3) fatty acids.
Well that prompted a bit more digging and sure enough a defficiency
in Omega-3 fatty acids corresponds with some of the other things
going on in my body that I'd mostly written off as natural
processes of aging (dry skin, poor memory, etc.).
Since I'd stopped eating out much a year or more ago (so only
an little tuna sushi in my diet) and did any cooking with Olive
oil (the Mediteranean diet is *supposed* to be the best because
it contains none of that bad saturated fat (right?)) and I
suspect most salad dressings are prepared with corn oil or olive
oil (and I try to pick the low fat types anyway)... Dada --
no ALA in my diet.
Not good. So I picked up some Omega-3 capsules and am going
to consider ~1 Tbsp of Flaxseed oil/day to see if things will
improve. You can also go with Canola oil but you need about
5x as much to get the same amount of ALA. You also probably can't
get it by cooking with these oils since their vaporization
temperatures are relatively low. [Interesting how the Canola
Council of Canada provides this very pretty chart comparing the
ALA content of Canola oil to *all* the other oils *except* Flaxseed.]
So if you are baking an omlet, you probably have to cook it in olive
oil, then poor the flaxseed or canola oil into the center
just before you fold it over and dump it out of the pan.
Another oil worth investigating may be Blackcurrant Oil but
you may have to get that at a health food store or off the net.
I think there may be some controversy over whether its better
to get your ALA from fish sources or flaxseed and whether or
not gamma-linolenic (Omega 6) which seems to be in flaxseed
but may not be in fish is "essential". Finally if you are using
a fish source, solely warm water fishes apparently will not
cut the mustard. I've seen listed mackeral, salmon, tuna,
cod, herring, trout, sardines and bluefish. Swordfish
or other tropical fish (I think mahi-mahi might be an
example) aren't going to cut the mustard. I think I knew
most of this at one time can't recall much of it now it
due to the lack of ALA.
So boys and girls, beware of "fad" diets -- eating a balanced
diet may be the best approach unless you are really willing
to closely monitor your intake of various nutrients.
Robert
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