Why do people eat Chia seeds?

People eat Chia seeds because they contain omega 3 fatty acids. Specifically ALA omega 3 fatty acids. So what am I getting in my Nordic Naturals that I eat 4g of per day? That's says EPA/DHA on the bottle. So do I need to take ALA too?

By the looks of things the answer is No. Heart cells and a few other cells can use the EPA, but the rest of the body just wants DHA. The body spends energy to convert ALA to EPA, and then more energy to convert EPA to DHA. Why not just start off by taking the DHA and save your body the hard work?

Why does nobody sell just DHA fish oil? Is it because there's a load of EPA in there anyway and they would just throw it away otherwise?

So what about the DPA in the Seal Oil I take?

Apparently there are 3 essential polyunsaturated fatty acids that circulate in the bloodstream, EPA, DHA and DPA. Remember that poor cousin ALA is converted to EPA before it's any use. DPA is essential for some stuff that EPA and DHA isn't, you can;t make it yourself and you don't get it in fish oil. Taking Seal oil gets it into your body and fixes the bits EPA and DHA can't.

Conclusion

I'm on the right track taking 4g of net total omega 3s per day in the form of Krill Oil (Because it's bottom of the food chain purer than fish oil), Fish oil and Seal oil.
AND - there's no need for me to start covering all my salads in a smattering of gritty little chia seeds because by the time ALA is converted to EPA and DHA, I've already popped 3 fish oil pills and have my body's needs sorted. Also only a tiny percentage of ALA (0.4 to 4% based on 2 independent studies) actually makes it into EPA, so if that's the only source of omega-3s, you'd better keep your omega 6 intake really really low by eating no olive oil, only grass fed ruminants, no nuts except macadamias and being totally strict paleo.

References
CONVERSION EFFICIENCY OF ALA TO DHA IN HUMANS
http://www.dhaomega3.org/Overview/Conversion-Efficiency-of-ALA-to-DHA-in-Humans

Seal oil
http://dpagold.com/index.php/omega-3-science/seal-oil

List of Good Fats

"Fats are good for you", "Eat fat to lose fat" etc. But where do you go from there? Obviously KFC and deep fried stuff are not good for you. So what fat is?









Fats to Eat
The fat your find on the outside of meat
Avocados
Macadamia nuts
Coconut oil, coconut water, coconut, milk , coconut cream
Bacon
Cold olive oil - never fry with it.
Egg yolks
Duck & duck fat
Goose
Organ meats
Pate
Silvery fish like herring, sardines, and anchovies for their omega 3 fats
Other fatty fish like Salmon, trout, and mackerel
Prawns
Crab
Lamb
Pork
Spam and other cured meats
Olives


Borderline
Dairy


Fats to Stay away from
Cheap dark chocolate like "Ghana" often contains Soy Lecithin

Seed oils

Processed fats

Hydrogenated oils like margarine

Types of Fat
monounsaturated fat
(all available carbon bonds are tied up with a hydrogen atom making it immune to rancidity or spoilage)
polyunsaturated fat
(contain two or more pairs of double bonds without hydrogen atoms occupying the open space making it wide open for oxidation)
saturated fat

NOTE: Foods containing monounsaturated fats reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, while possibly increasing high-density lipoprotein (HDL)

NOTE: A good guide (if somewhat simplified) is “is the fat a solid or liquid at room temperature?” Liquid fats (vegetable oils) tend to be polyunsaturated, while fats with higher melting points (animal fats) tend to be saturated or monounsaturated. Hydrogenation of vegetable fats (removing some or all of the unsaturated spots) is what makes margarine solid at room temperature. Most nut oils tend to be monounsaturated

http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/skinny-on-fats

How Much Blood is Required to Run 1kg of BodyFat

I'd like to know this because as my bodyfat is reducing, my heart rate is dropping. It must be that my heart has less day to day work to do in order to keep house.

All I can find so far is this:

Assuming a male of 6ft 600lb- approximately 22L of blood. 175lb- approximately 8.5L of blood.

Females would have less blood than males.

This was calculated using Nadler's Formula:

For Males = 0.3669 * Ht in metres^3 + 0.03219 * Wt in kgs + 0.6041
For Females = 0.3561 * Ht in metres^3 + 0.03308 x Wt in kgs + 0.1833

Avocado, Olive Oil, Balsamic

this picture is stolen,
will have to upload my own pic :-o

Great rest day snack to make the day a bit more fat biased:
Avocado, Olive Oil, Balsamic vinegar

Avocados have more carbs and fiber than you think.

Is it Possible To Eat Too Much Coconut?

You get all you can, give nothing back!

The coconut water is not that high in calories, about 50 calories for a cup. The meat is loaded though.

Another young coconut delivery
arrives in the Drea household

Last night I used a can of coconut cream, some baby scallops, braised grass fed beef and a ton of veggies and made a creamy stew.
Easy to eat loads of it and must have been well over 1,200 calories. Got the leftovers in my bento with 3 avocados on the side.
The only reason to cap daily consumption of coconuts would be if your calorie intake was going off the chart and you start putting on weight.

Normal consumption of coconut products is said to burn fat though.
I think in Robb Wolf's book he explains about the thermogenic properties of food, 1 calorie of carbohydrate takes 0.1 calories to process, 1 calorie of fat takes 0.3 calories to process and 1 calorie of protein takes 0.4 calories to process etc. I don't remember the numbers but one of the reasons for taking a lot of your calories from protein is because it protein takes more energy to use, thereby increasing metabolism and makes your body run "hotter" burning more calories as you watch DVDs after dinner.

they sell mega tins of the watered down
chaokoh coconut milk in Nissin WD

The medium chain fatty acids in coconuts mean that coconuts are unique and are the only source of fat that is actually MORE thermogenic than the best of the best protein.
Get a chunk of your daily calories from coconuts and your body is going to be more of a calorie processing machine.
Another great affect of coconut's processing power is their knock on affect to process other long chain fatty acids.
If coconuts are taking care of some of your long chain fatty acids then its much better than using fish oil to just counter balance them.
better to reduce the omega6 problem rather than balance it out with omega3 right? much more efficient!

**UPDATE**


My friend told me that there has been a disease in Thailand and half of the young coconut crop has failed. Thailand supplied 50% of the world coconut market. Sure enough, Thai Food Market where I got my last batch of coconuts from has upped their price from 3,000 2 weeks ago to 4,000 for 6 young coconuts. http://thaifoodmarket.jp/SHOP/TS000D1.html

Their delivery is 750 yen so it works out at 4,750 now for 6. That's a big jump in price. They still do free delivery for orders over 10,000. I was going to order in 12 young coconuts and the rest on cans of coconut cream. But they only sell coconut milk! So I was going to go back to the first place I ordered from: Mekon Foods: http://www.mekonfoods.jp/shopdetail/017000000004/brandname/
They sell at 600 yen per "nut" and have a much quicker delivery than Thai Food Market, plus free shipping over 5250円. AND they sell coconut cream at 180 per can! 6 young coconuts and 10 tins of cream puts you into free delivery territory, and is a great coconut packed parcel! I just ordered that today.

My order at www.mekonfoods.jp

Or, another one I haven;t tried yet is "Ai Thailand". They do them at 550円 each with 500円 delivery in the Kanto area: http://www.ai-thailand.com/SHOP/3066.html

Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

When I switched to coconut oil for nearly all cooking back in Feb the only source I could find was Nissin World Delicatessen's Omega Nutrition Coconut Oil. It's over 2,000 yen for a small tub and I wasn't convinced that it was the best item on Omega Nutritions product list. I looked at their website and they have all sorts of 'virgin' or 'organic' products and this product that I bought was not listed.

2 tubs of this stuff later and my Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil arrived from bodybuilding.com. It cost 1,400 yen, you get more and the first thing I noticed is that it smells like coconut! (Omega Nutrition Coconut Oil has no smell). When it's in the pan as well, there's a coconut smell going on. I love coconut so I love this.

On the whole very pleased with the purchase. It's just a shame bodybuilding.com shipping takes so long to get to Japan.

Coconut Cream Ice Cream

I'm not that worried about fats though, as long as they are of the good kind.
The fat in coconut oil and cream is made up of lauric acid, which is totally good for ya
This ice cream is made from coconut cream, egg yolks and splenda - check out the stats!
Yes those calories are for the same amount of ice cream

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream - It's Dairy and Sugar

Paleo Ice Cream - It's all good fat baby!

From http://coconutoilburnsfat.com

I’m not suggesting you to indulge in coconut cream, but rather than avoid it altogether, it is alright to eat in moderation. The principle fatty acid in coconut milk is lauric acid, which is the same fat found in abundance in mother’s milk.

When converted to monolaurin, it boosts your immune system and protects your body against many viruses, including hepatitis C, herpes and even HIV!

It also promotes normal brain development and contribute to healthy bones.

It also has important anti-carcinogenic and anti-pathogenic properties which helps to prevent cancer. More importantly, coconut cream is less likely to cause weight gain than polyunsaturated oils. Never know coconut cream can be so good right?

switching to coconut oil

i'm switching from virgin olive oil to coconut oil.

there's loads of reasons why its better, first off it has very little omega 6 whereas olive oil is loaded. everything I eat has to get me towards somewhere between 1:1 and 1:2 omega3:omega6 ratios. I need to find a graph comparing omegas in different oils.

here's livestrong's top 5 cooking oils. coconut is not even there.

what the helio is "helio rice bran oil"? its big selling point is this chart:

doesn't look very Paleo to me either.

Paleohacks.com: "Olive oil is mostly MUFA rather than SFA of course, but this shouldn't lead to too much of a difference in terms of cooking. After all, animal fat is often around 50% MUFA. The real problem with olive oil isn't the MUFA, it's the omega 6. By comparison, the much vaunted lard, is more MUFA than SFA and more omega 6 than olive oil. Olive oil also has a higher smoke point, drastically so if the ligter, rather than virgin oils. That said, cooking with olive oil, if you're going to consume it is a waste, if only because of the loss of the (possibly) beneficial polyphenols."

Marks Daily Apple has a great guide on oils, they love coconut the best.

I got this from an Indian Doctor's website:

Safflower (Omega6: 73; Omega3: 0.5; Ratio (6/3): 146);
Sunflower (Omega6: 49; Omega3: 0.3; Ratio (6/3): 163);
Corn (Omega6: 57; Omega3: 0.8; Ratio (6/3): 71);
Sesame (Omega6: 40; Omega3: 0.5; Ratio (6/3): 80);
Palmolein (Omega6: 9; Omega3: 0.3; Ratio (6/3): 30);
Groundnut (Omega6: 28; Omega3: 0.8; Ratio (6/3): 35);
Coconut (Omega6: 1.8; Omega3: 0.0; Ratio (6/3): 0); 
Ghee (Buffalo)(Omega6: 2; Omega3: 0.9; Ratio (6/3): 2.2);
Ghee (Cow) (Omega6: 1.6; Omega3: 0.5; Ratio (6/3): 3.2) and
Mustard/Rape (Omega6: 13; Omega3: 8.6; Ratio (6/3): 1.5).

Comparison in terms of MUFA (monounsaturated fatty acids), PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) and SFA (saturated fatty acids) content (%) in 100g of the oils is as below:

Sunflower (MUFA:84, PUFA:4, SFA:10);
Olive oil (MUFA:74, PUFA:8, SFA:14);
Mustard Oil (MUFA:59, PUFA:21, SFA:12);
Groundnut Oil (MUFA:46, PUFA:32, SFA:17)

looks like coconut oil is so busy being saturated fat, it's got no space left for omegas.

another interesting article here

coconut-oil-diet.com "Most cooking oils contain omega 6 fatty acids, something we get way too much of in the United States.  Our omega 6 to omega 3 ratio should be 1:1  but it is more like 50:1.  We need to drastically cut back our omega 6 oils and consume much more omega 3 oils to be healthy.  And coconut oil is filled with these healthy omega 3 fatty acids." really? The Indian doctor said there is zero omega 3 in coconut oil.


tropicaltraditions.com "What is the amount of Omega 3 fatty acids in Coconut Oil?
None. Coconut oil is not a source of Omega 3 fatty acids. These need to be supplemented in the diet from elsewhere (such as our Cod Liver Oil). The primary benefits of coconut oil are the nutritive value of  medium chain fatty acids."

everynutrient.com: "The healthiest oil to cook with is coconut oil.  Although olive oil has the popularity of being one of the healthiests oils, it health benefits are only attributed to the oil being 
used without heat.  The smoke point is the point at which an oil burns after being heated.  When oil reaches it's smoke point, it emits smoke to indicate that it is now burnt.  Olive oil has a low smoke point and burns almost immediatelt once it's placed in a hot pan.  Due to olive oil's low smoke point, olive oil should only be used in it's cold pressed form without any heat application.  Coconut oil is one of the most stable oils to use for cooking as well as in raw food preparations.  Coconut oil has a high smoke point and stays fairly stable during cooking.  Coconut oil also provides many health benefits that have been linked to the decreased risk of several illnesses 
such as heart disease and cancer. "

It is best to select coconut oil that is both organic and virgin, as use for a natural treatment for eczema.

Organic Coconut Oil. Dry eczema skin can be a symptom of a highly toxic body. Hence, the last thing you want to do is to use a product that is not produced organically.

Virgin Coconut Oil. Virgin coconut oil is made by using fresh coconut meat with little or no processing, or what is called non-copra.

Most commercial grade coconut oils are produced from copra. Most of the copra, the meat of the coconut, is dried under the sun in the open air, where it gets exposed to insects and moulds. The standard end product made from copra is RBD coconut oil. RBD means refined, bleached, and deodorized. Both high heat and chemicals (e.g. solvent extractions) are used in this method.

A fragrant smell is characteristic of virgin coconut oils. Copra-based refined coconut oils have no taste or fragrance due to the refining process.

There's lots of opinions on coconut oil, i'm going out to see if I can find some and try it out.

switching to macadamias

I was eating a handful of walnuts and beef jerky as my mid-morning snack on rest days. (good fats and plenty of protein). Since then I've been reading that walnuts have a high Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio. So I'm switching to Macadamias which have just as much nutritional value, but contain hardly any Omega 6.

Omega 6 per (1/4) cup

Walnuts – 9.5 g
Almonds – 4.36 g
Cashews – 2.6 g
Macadamias – 0.5 g
Brazil nuts – 7.2 g
Hazelnuts – 2.7 g
Pistachio – 4.1 g
Pine nuts – 11.6 g
Pecans – 5.8 g

(http://www.marksdailyapple.com/nuts-omega-6-fats/)

omegas

List showing Omega 6 Content of Common Foods:
http://180degreehealth.blogspot.com/2010/02/omega-6-content-of-common-foods.html

Better switch out Walnuts for Macadamias with my Jerky :-)