Omega Imbalance: Know Your Fats!

PARIS (AFP) – Overeating combined with the wrong mix of fats in one's diet can cause obesity to be carried over from one generation to the next, researchers in France reported Friday.  Omega-6 and omega-3, both polyunsaturated fatty acids, are each critical to good health.

But too much of the first and not enough of the second can lead to overweight offspring, the scientists showed in experiments with mice designed to mirror recent shifts in human diet.  Over the last four decades, the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 in a typical Western diet has shifted from a healthy five-to-one to 15-to-one in much of Europe, and up to 40-to-one in the United States.  In the breast milk of American women, the average ratio has gone from six-to-one to 18-to-one.

Earlier studies have established a link between such imbalances and heart disease. But "this is the first time that we have shown a trans-generational increase in obesity" linked to omega intake, said Gerard Ailhaud, a biochemist at the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis and main architect of the study.  "Omega six is like a fat-producing bomb," he told AFP by phone. Experts differ on whether obesity is more importantly due to the percentage of fat in one's diet or the sheer amount of calories consumed.

The findings, published in the US-based Journal of Lipid Research, add yet another dimension to the debate, and could shed new light on the obesity epidemic that has swept across the globe, mainly in rich nations.

They also suggest that persistence within families of health-threatening weight gain -- while not genetic in origin -- may not be entirely due to environmental factors either. The link between omega imbalance and obesity "is probably epigenetic," said Ailhaud, referring to the complex process whereby the information in genes is translated into chemical activity. "The genome and the DNA of the rodents has not been modified, but these factors can influence the way in which certain genes are expressed."

In the experiments, four generations of mice were fed a 35-percent fat diet with the omega imbalance now found in much of the developed world.  The result was progressively fatter mice at birth, generation after generation.  The rodents also developed insulin-resistance, a telltale symptom for diabetes 2, one of the most common -- and debilitating -- consequences of obesity in humans.  The equally undesirable increase in omega-6 and drop in omega-3 can be partly explained by the change from grass-fed to grain-fed livestock, Ailhaud explained.  Grass is rich in omega-3. "But to increase productivity, feed was shifted to grain meal, especially corn, which contains a high concentration of omega-6," he said.  Adding a small quantity of flaxseed oil to animal feed could help restore a healthy omega balance in meat and daily products, he added. 

There are three types of fatty acids -- saturated fats, monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats.

In France, health authorities recommend that fat intake should between 30 and 40 percent of calories consumed, while the US Food and Drug Administration suggests a range of 20-to-30 percent.  Both governments agree that most of that intake should be from polyunsaturated and monosaturated fats such as fish, nuts and vegetable oils rather than the saturated fats found in red meat and dairy products.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100716/hl_afp/healthobesitydiabetesfat

Quick & Healthy Dinner Recipes!

While perusing the internet for some quick, easy, and healthy dinner recipes, I stumbled across The Knot's AWESOME recipe book.  It allows you to sort recipes by main ingredient, cooking time, and type of meal.  It's filled with pictures to accompany the recipes, and the website offers a LOT of variety.  Looking for healthy Fourth of July recipes, or just a fun snack for the weekend?  Check it out - you won't regret it!

http://www.thenest.com/Recipes/Healthy/results.aspx?type=7&recipe_type=Healthy

Here's one of my favorite hummus recipes:

Ingredients
2 small garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 mild red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped
14 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Handful fresh flat-leaf parsley or coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon
Freshly ground black pepper


Preparation
1.) Put the garlic, chilli, chickpeas and 1–2 tablespoons olive oil in a food processor and whiz until completely smooth – this may take several minutes. Add the herbs and a squeeze of lemon juice and whiz again until well blended. Taste and add more lemon juice and olive oil, as needed, plus some black pepper.
2.) Spoon into a serving bowl and drizzle over a little more oil, then cover and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.


From The Secret Ingredient by Sally Bee, copyright 2010 Sterling Publishing Co.

Work Out Harder, Not Longer

 

If you're always complaining that you don't have time to exercise, your excuse-making days may now be over. A new study published in the Journal of Physiology suggests that doing short-duration, high-intensity training sessions may be just as effective as longer duration, less intense exercise. Simply put, you can do your workout in just 20 minutes and still see the benefits.

Researchers from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, had seven men exercise for just one minute on a stationary bike at the highest intesity they were capable of. This one-minute burst was followed by a minute of rest, another minute of intense exercise, and so on, until partipants reached 20 minutes total – 10 exercising, 10 resting.

Participants were subjected to muscle biopsies before and after training, and specific attention was paid to the number of mitochondria – the tiny powerhouses in each cell.  "People’s risk of type 2 diabetes is inversely related to the amount of mitochondria in cells," said professor Martin Gibala, the study's lead investigator. "After the high-intensity training, the amount of mitochondria went up to levels that we've seen in traditional endurance training, 4-5 hours per week."

Translated: muscle fitness in just 20 minutes.

Of course interval training is nothing new – elite athletes have been training with intervals for years, but Gibala says the goal here was to prove that anybody – not just the finely tuned athletes – could train with intervals.

"We've been doing interval training research for years now, but the model we've used...is not something people can use in everyday life," said Gibala. "In this study, we used a less-extreme model of interval training using a standard stationary bike. It's a safer and more realistic for the everyday person, and still time efficient."

But, exercise experts say the only downside to short bursts of high-intensity training – by itself – can be a lack of muscle endurance.

"It depends on what benefit you're looking for," said Forrest Pecha, director of athletic training services at Emory University Sports Medicine. "If you're looking to build cardiovascular endurance, interval training only works in conjunction with longer, more sustained workouts."

If, however, you're looking to simply get in shape, and time is your enemy, Pecha says, intervals may be right for you.

Editor's Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.

Source: http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/16/study-working-out-harder-for-less-time-effective/?hpt=C2