The Queen of Fats: Why Omega-3s Were Removed from the Western Diet and What We Can Do to Replace Them (Volume 15) (California Studies in Food and Culture)

This book has changed my life because it has convinced me that omega-3 is vital for our health and so has caused me to become much more intentional about trying to get more omega-3 into my diet. It also has made me aware that the amount of omega 6 varies widely in foods, including oils, so I am trying to become more diligent about reducing the amount of omega 6 I take in. I also now have a better understanding why free-range meat is healthier to eat: It has more omega 3 in it. The science is a bit dense in the book, which is why I am giving it four stars. Many other science/health books are easier to read.

The book was really great and an easy and enjoyable read - which is not easy when writing about science stuff! I did not give it a 5 just because it is a little dated. 2010 I think. It recommended canola oil to be eaten to get more omega 3’s and nobody shid be eating canola oil. .

The American diet has long been studied as people moved away from the agrarian lifestyle (i.e., farms) and farms consequently became big businesses focused on producing money rather than healthy food. Meanwhile, women have moved into the workplace for a variety of reasons; many stopped nursing their infants because of workplace demands and cultural issues. In light of such changes, the demand for instant food has increased, consequently wreaking havoc on the body--particularly the brain. For example, infant formula has been produced to replace breast milk; yet his has created a problem due to the lack of Omega 3 fatty acids in the formula. It seemed as if overnight children developed issues stemming from the lack of this important item in their diets.These issues began to affect children's moods; indeed, issues normally found in adults were now being found in children. For example, mood disorders were increasingly identified in children as well as adults. Thus, the researcher (Anne Vanderlaan) sought literature on this topic to find a link between professional and scientific research to determine if a connection existed between the lack of omega 3 fatty acids in the American diet and mood issues. Ultimately, the literature review aimed to determine whether putting Omega 3 fatty acids back into the diet would enhance mood. Using this approach, the researcher's purpose is to establish causation and a possible cure for mood issues.Here is one book that I found to explain in easy terms and to pass on to others.The author of this book supplied the researcher with an organized sequential way of looking at Omega 3 fatty acids, putting the information into perspective. The discussion began with a timeline of the history of the finding of Vitamin F and fatty acids (Omega 3). Allport (2006) outlined important findings, including the reasons behind the food industry removing Omega 3 fatty acids from the western diet. Intertwined with stories of scientists in Europe, Greenland, Africa, Australia, and the United States, Allport provided a personal touch to one of the most important dietary stories of all time: how populations in Western countries like the United States came to be deficient in these essential nutrients.The book clarifies the enormous health consequences of this dietary oversight (not just heart disease but also cancer, diabetes, and obesity) and dramatically portrays how scientists have learned that the two families of polyunsaturated fats (Omega 3 and omega 6--one derived from leaves and the other from seeds and both essential to human health) compete for positions in cells but affect cells in very different ways. According to Allport (2006), Omega 3 fatty acids are used for life's speediest tasks. People run into dilemmas when the omega 6 fatty acids cancel out foods and our tissues on a cellular level. The book provides persuasive suggestions for reintroducing Omega 3 fatty acids, whose discovery, science, and politics will transform our thinking about what people should be eating.Allport (2006) plainly explains how little fish eat the algae and big fish eat the little fish, which have eaten the algae. Ultimately, fish get their Omega 3 fatty acids in the end from algae and plankton. One of the reasons why fish are important--and a good source of Omega 3 fatty acids--is because they live in the ocean and need more such flexible fats in their tissues in order to be active in the colder environment. Allport explains that fish are the last animals in our food supply that still eats greens or predominantly eats greens. In the past, all our livestock used to forage for themselves and eat plenty of grasses and other greens, filling their tissues with Omega 3 fatty acids while ingesting fewer Omega 6 fatty acids.Although really small differences in chemical structure exist between these two families of fats, significant differences occur in function and in where they are found. Omega 6 fatty acids are much more abundant in seeds and are far less susceptible to going rancid due to oxidation. Thus, they can be more safely stored in a seed. Plants can then turn those Omega 6 fatty acids into omega 3 fatty acids when the plants need them (e.g., at the moment of germination, when photosynthesis starts). Animals cannot make such a conversion. Moreover, people have to consume them in the right balance to have the right proportion in our tissues or the Omega 6 fatty acids will cancel out the Omega 3 fatty acids on a cellular level.

The Queen of Fats is not really a book for the casual reader looking to improve his or her diet (though it provides advice for that). It is instead a historical overview of fatty acid scientific research. I came to this book having already read several books on fatty acids; otherwise, I might have been a bit overwhelmed by the science.You'll learn such things as:* How omega-3s got their name* How they were discovered and by whom* Why omega-3s are removed from processed foods* Disease that can occur because of fatty acid deficiencies* Why reducing omega-6s in the diet is as important as increasing omega-3s* Why grains are rich in omega-6s and greens are rich in omega-3s* The difference between omega-3s found in flax seeds and those found in fish* Why Eskimos eat a lot of fat but are free of heart disease* The role of fatty acids in promoting or reducing inflammation* Why some important research findings never gets published* The role of fatty acids in metabolism* Where and why the various fatty acids are found in high concentrations in humans and animals* How to incorporate more omega-3s in your diet and find a healthy balance between omega-3s and omega-6s.Allport writes, "Trying to undertand health and diet without an appreciation of these fats is like trying to understand earthquakes without knowledge of plate tectonics, or motion without knowledge of physics. Until we revise our food and guidelines to incorporate all that has been learned about omega-3 fatty acids in the past fifty years, our diet will be lacking in a very important way."To address the hubbub regarding Atkins, Allport claims that the Atkins diet (or any low-carb diet, it seems) is dangerous, because the weight lost on such a diet is really muscle loss due to the body breaking down muscle proteins to create glucose for the brain that supposedly cannot rely entirely on ketones. Also, the increased intake of protein can lead to organ failure and a wasting condition known as "rabbit starvation."From my understanding, the brain actually prefers ketones, and rabbit starvation occurs when too much protein and not enough fat are consumed (rabbits are very, very lean). The low-carb diet I followed involved replacing carbs with fat-not protein. And anyone who's lost weight on a low-carb diet can tell you they lost fat. It's no "illusion," as Allport claims. I suggest that if you want to learn about low-carb diets, that you read books specific to them, not books on the history of fatty acids.The low-carb issue aside, I love this book (I've read it three times) and recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about fatty acids and the history of fatty acid science. Allport's writing is exceptional, and The Queen of Fats remains a valuable addition to my health library.

I thought this was an excellent introduction for a non-scientist to the biochemistry of Omega 3 and Omega 6 lipids, the story of how they were discovered and their importance in nutrition and health generally. In particular, it provides a very good explanation of why the increasing amount of Omega 6 lipids relative to Omega 3 is so damaging to our overall health.One small word of caution: in the 11 years or so since the book was published in 2006, views on saturated fats have changed and I believe that comments such as those on the association between heart disease and saturated fat along with the advice to cut down on saturated fats would now be presented in a rather more nuanced way and perhaps the advice would be quite different. Accessible and easy to read, I warmly recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject matter.

Susan Allport has written an extremely important book that all should read and take to heart. And that's precisely what I mean - take to protect their heart. Cardiovascular disease is a major killer in North America. This book may well save millions of lives.It matters not only how much fat you eat but, more importantly, which fats you eat. If you think that a diet that switches to vegetable oils and eating more seed and grain products, while shunning animal fats to avoid cholesterol and saturated fats is a great idea to protect your heart, well, think again.The Greenland Inuit consumption of fatty fish, seal meat and blubber resulted in far lower death rates from cardiovascular disease than was seen in North America and Western Europe. That was back in 1972. Scientists collected blood samples from the Greenland Inuit and found some very surprising results, showing very healthy lipoprotein balances. Nowadays, these same Inuit have had increased access to the foods we eat and deaths from cardiovascular disease among them is on the rise.There are many other examples in the book what scientists have been finding out about why your balance of omega-3 to omega-6 is so important to your health.Here is a surprise to me! It turns out that plants store mainly omega-6 fatty acids in their seeds and use mainly omega-3 fatty acids for photosynthesis in their stalks and leaves. It's not that omega-6 fatty acids are bad and omega-3 are good. It's a wrong balance between the two in our diet that is bad. Seeds, grains, nuts, vegetable oils and beans may be mainly omega-6, although there are some important exceptions.The claims in this book are well-supported by the findings of outstanding researchers from around the world. The book is well-documented with references to the compelling groundbreaking findings. The book is a fascinating read as it goes through the history of these findings, bringing out the thinking and research at a personal level. It reads like a fascinating story, but grounded in fact, not fiction.Like many major breakthroughs, it is hard to lift out the implications of such breakthroughs and clearly present them in the public domain. This is partly because of the difficulty for the public to understand the science, and partly because of the entrenched beliefs defended by those who for various reasons want to maintain the status quo (government, food industry, even some influential scientists who choose to defend their outdated thinking).Biochemistry is a very complicated subject and research in the field is always ongoing. Susan Allport has focused on an important part of the biochemical findings that will soon change how we understand the fatty acids in relation to human health. How it relates to the health of everyone of us.As useful companion book to Susan Allport's excellent book, I purchased "Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol" by Mary G. Enig, Ph.D.I suggest people read Susan Allport's book first to get the important message of the book and change your eating habits for the better. Use Dr. Enig's book as a helpful handy reference where needed, then read Dr. Enig's book. Dr. Enig has some useful tables in the appendices and she also answers questions about fats and oils on her website.

管理栄養士、栄養士、その他、脂質栄養学を学ぼうとしている人にお勧めです。著者は多くの現存されている脂質栄養学者に実際に会い取材し非常に貴重なデータを書き残されています。栄養学の古典となるべき名著と思います。

人間は間違いをする。科学は間違いの歴史である。まさに脂質栄養学も例外でない。