A Good Food Day: Reboot Your Health with Food That Tastes Great (24 page)

The Anti-Inflammatory Superstars

There’s usually some truth to old-school wisdom, and the one about fish as “brain food” is no exception. It has to do with omega-3 fatty acids, the healthy fat found in abundance in certain kinds of cold-water fish and, to a lesser degree, foods like flaxseeds and grass-fed meats. Assuming you’ve embraced the fact that not all fat is dangerous for your heart and the
size of your belly
, you know that healthy eating isn’t about cutting out fat, but rather adding in the good fats. Among these, omega-3 fatty acids have become the MVP. Even if you’ve only half-heartedly glanced at nutritional recommendations, you’ve likely heard about them because experts of every approach to healthy eating—from grain-free and low-carb diets to vegetarian and vegan—agree that omega-3s are undeniably good for you.

Rattling off the list of their health benefits sounds a little like a late-night infomercial. If you consistently get enough omega-3s, over time you could have better memory, brighter moods, protection against the symptoms of depression, improved asthma, and good skin, hair, and eyesight. Remembering where you put your keys and being able to read the menu in a dark restaurant may be reason enough to make sure you’re getting your omega-3s, but it’s their anti-inflammatory powers that make them a critical nutrient. Inflammation in the body is normal when it’s in response to an injury like a sprained ankle or cut on your finger, but chronic inflammation caused by years of too much stress and a shitty diet of processed food can kill ya. You can’t see this type of inflammation, but it’s the driving force behind most diseases, ranging from cancer and heart disease to Alzheimer’s, Crohn’s, and arthritis.

Omega-3s are an essential fat for human health, but our bodies can’t produce them—we have to get them from food. The main types of omega-3s are ALA, EPA, and DHA. ALAs are in plant foods like chia seeds, flaxseeds, walnuts, and all cooking oils made from vegetables, nuts, or seeds. The more potent and most beneficial types of omega-3s are EPA and DHA, found in fatty cold-water fish, including salmon, anchovies, sardines, mackerel, herring, and tuna. Both EPA and DHA can help lower blood pressure, slow the rate of gunk build-up in arteries, and increase good cholesterol. EPA in particular works as an anti-inflammatory in the brain where its help with blood flow may fight depression and prevent Alzheimer’s (brain food!).

You can’t talk about omega-3s without considering their close cousins, omega-6s—you need both types of fat so your body hums along like it should. Omega-6s are pro-inflammatory, but this isn’t a big deal if you’re getting enough omega-3 fats to balance them. The problem comes in when you rarely eat omega-3–rich foods and overload on omega-6s in the form of cheap, grain-fed meats and highly processed vegetable oils like soybean, corn, and sunflower oils (hydrogenating these oils turns them into trans fat—another damaging fat that provokes inflammation). When
the balance of these fats is out of whack, the omega-6s crowd out the omega-3s and cause chronic inflammation. The recommended ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is 2:1; these days, the typical American has an out-of-control ratio somewhere between 10:1 and 20:1, mostly because of the glut of vegetable oils in processed food.

When I was diagnosed with gout, a form of arthritis, I shifted my diet to focus on foods packed with omega-3s (along with
alkaline-forming foods
). The more omega-3 fat I ate, the less omega-6 was available to stir up inflammation in my joints. Extra virgin olive oil has always been my go-to cooking oil, but all the processed food I ate—the bags of chips, late-night burgers, and deli meats—are omega-6 bombs. To fix the imbalance, I started eating omega-3–rich fish a couple times a week, specifically salmon, anchovies, and sardines. When I buy meat, eggs, and butter, I seek out grass-fed and pasture-raised options, which are much higher in omega-3 fatty acids. I also work in chia seeds, flaxseeds, and walnuts. Omega-3 supplements can be a kind of insurance, but, as always, I prefer to get nutrients from my diet first. Plus, choking down fish oil isn’t nearly as enjoyable as eating silky
Cured Salmon
,
Whole Wheat Spaghetti “Con Sarde”
,
Grass-Fed Beef Meatloaf
, or
Pecan Power Balls
. Eating omega-3–rich foods is probably the most delicious nutrition recommendation out there.