Omega 3 Sources in Healthy Salads

Omega 3 sources of essential fatty acids are the foods that contain the polyunsaturated fats. They are the essential fats that we need in every living cell that we have to get from food. Contrary to what you read and hear the body needs healthy fats and they do not cause weight gain! In fact, they help you to burn your body fat. They include;

raw nuts, avocados, olive oil, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds and fish and some legumes.

There are 2 basic types of essential fatty acids of different chemical structures, the omega-3s and the omega-6s.

Americans are woefully deficient in these omega 3 sources of fats and they contribute to so many body functions. They contribute to our brain power, our heart and skin health and even have anti-cancer benefits! It cannot be overstated how much we need these fats to be slim and healthy.

So how to get enough of them every single day? One great way is to add foods that are omega 3 sources to healthy salads. These are great low glycemic foods that can help to lower blood sugar. Putting them in salads is a great solution to getting enough of them. The best salads are made up of highly nutritious, fiber dense raw foods and your omega-3 proteins, fish, seeds and nuts. The marine foods are the omega 3 sources that are the fat burning foods.

A new Australian study (University of S. Australia, Adelaide, Dept. of Nutritional Physiology, March 2005) indicates that consumption of fish combined with moderate aerobic exercise supports weight control!

According to the study, the omega-3 sources that are marine foods stimulate secretion of leptin, the hormone that decreases appetite and promotes the burning of body fat. The omega-3 fatty acids in fish also promote burning of fats by helping move fatty acids into cells for burning as fuel. Be sure to eat the wild fish rather than the farm raised which has questionable additives due to what the fish are fed.

The richest omega 3 sources are salmon and other fish, striped bass, wild trout, oysters, tuna, herring and sablefish. Also they are in olive oil, canola oil, flaxseed oil and walnut oil. Buy wild salmon if you can find it. The best plant based omega-6 sources are in raw nuts, seeds and legumes, primrose oil, soybean oil and sesame oil. The oils that contain the most omega-3 fatty acids are canola oil and olive oil. Flaxseeds are a good plant source of omega-3s and can be consumed in flaxseed meal that you can sprinkle on your cereal.

We need to eat a lot more of the omega 3 sources and less of the saturated fats that are in animal protein. Most Americans eat far too many of the saturated fats and very little of the omega-3 sources. All fats should be at least 30% of our diets with the balance weighted more to the polyunsaturated, essential fatty acids.

Salads (no croutons)

Let's not forget that the foundation of the salad, the dark leafy greens, are full of powerful nutrients. Nowadays we have a big variety to choose from. When you add chopped walnuts, salmon, tuna or avocado to a salad you have a complete, nutritious meal that can be very filling yet still not raise your blood sugar. In fact, when you add the omega 3 sources like chopped nuts and avocado you have included foods that lower blood sugar. These super salads are low in saturated fat and high in omega 3 sources, the "good fats." You can buy canned wild salmon from Alaska. Of course you must have a light salad dressing so as not to consume more fats than you need.

A glycemic response of a meal may be lowered by having a salad with the meal, if it has the proper dressing. The dressing must have the following proportions of oil to vinegar: 4 teaspoons of lemon juice or red wine vinegar to 2 teaspoons of olive oil (or canola oil.)

**Most commercial, bottled salad dressings are high glycemic due to the additives so you need to read the labels carefully. Corn syrup and maltodextrins are high glycemic.**

Did you know that the red potato, which is high in Vitamin C and has a low starch content can also be an excellent choice for a salad if it is cooked and chilled? Resistant starch is a type of dietary fiber found in some carbohydrates naturally and in others like pasta, rice and potatoes, when they are cooked and chilled. Pasta salad also contains resistant starch. Potatoes and pasta, of course, are not omega 3 sources, however, chilled in a salad they are filling, nutritious and low glycemic.

Resistant starch is slower to digest and does not spike blood sugar levels. Because it stays in your intestines longer it helps you to feel more full. There is more good news about resistant starch! According to John La Puma, MD in his book Big Book of Culinary Medicine, "Foods rich in resistant starch appear to help you burn fat up to twenty four hours later." So red potato salads and pasta salads are fat burning foods as well as filling and nutritious!

Omega-3 sources are foods that are essential for our health in so many ways. Foods that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids support cardiovascular health, enhance our immune systems and are nourishment for our brains. To maintain fat loss and be healthy we need to add more of the omega-3 sources to our diets. Putting them in salads is the perfect way to do it.

Glycemic Index List of Foods

The glycemic index list of foods includes foods that lower blood sugar and help you to lose fat!

List of Raw Foods

This list of raw foods contains fruits and vegetables that are a powerhouse of nutrients and they are low glycemic, meaning you can eat as much of them as you desire!

Low Glycemic Foods: Super Healthy Whole Grains

Eating lots of super healthy low glycemic foods means that you are once and for all replacing the fat storing high glycemic carbs in your diet with the low glycemic complex carbohydrates....

High Fiber Foods: Delicious Grains and Legumes

There are extraordinary health benefits in eating fiber rich foods including a lifetime of fat loss!

Low Carb Pastas and Cereals

Great news for pasta lovers....you don't need low carb pasta because pasta is low glycemic!

Good Fats

Calcium Rich Foods

Taking a look at dairy products and just how these calcium rich foods affect the glycemic index chart...

Sugar Free Desserts and the Good Sugars

Sugar free desserts that taste good? Is a sugar free dessert a low glycemic recipe? Yes!

Soups, Oriental Cuisine, Protein Foods

This low glycemic index chart shows the soups, the oriental cuisine and the protein foods that do not raise your blood sugar.

Glycemic Load

Too much of a good thing can be a glycemic load and definitely high glycemic foods are a glycemic load.

Acidic Foods: High Glycemic Sugars

Any list of acidic foods will have sodas at the top of the list. These drinks are high glycemic and fat storing drinks!

High Glycemic Foods

Here are the high glycemic foods that need to be avoided most of the time in order to maintain your fat loss.

Controlling Food Cravings

Controlling food cravings means that you need to avoid the high glycemic foods on these lists! High glycemic sugars in foods stimulate the appetite and lead to food cravings.

Reading Food Labels

Find out where the fat traps are hidden! This is what leads to obesity and insulin resistance....

Food Lovers Diet

Food lovers can celebrate good food and manage their weight at the same time!

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