By THOMAS M. BURTON
The Wall Street Journal
Omega-3 fatty acids, from fish like salmon and other sources, have for years been shown to help lower levels of heart disease and cardiac death.
New research suggests the fatty acids may possess an even more fundamental benefit: Heart patients with high omega-3 intake had relatively longer "telomeres," which are stretches of DNA whose length correlates with longevity.
Cardiologists from the University of California, San Francisco, and other hospitals measured telomere length over five years in 608 patients who had coronary-artery blockage and previous heart attacks. Researchers found that people with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their white blood cells experienced significantly less shortening of telomeres over five years, as compared with patients with lower omega-3 levels.
"What we're demonstrating is a potentially new link between omega-3 fatty acids and the aging process," said Ramin Farzaneh-Far, a clinical cardiologist and assistant medical professor at UCSF and San Francisco General Hospital who is the lead author of the research.
Published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, the study focused only on "marine" omega-3 found in fish, not the type found in vegetable sources like flaxseed, walnuts, canola oil or soybean oil.
The study didn't distinguish between meals of fatty fish and fish-oil supplements—leaving open the question of whether it's better for people to eat more fish, to eat plants such as flaxseed or just to take omega-3 supplements.
The American Heart Association, in a 2002 scientific statement in the journal Circulation, concluded that consuming omega-3 fatty acids in fish or supplements "significantly reduces subsequent cardiac and all-cause mortality." The fish most often cited are salmon, herring and sardines.
John LaPuma, a Santa Barbara, Calif., physician and nutrition expert, says, "The best data are in fish rather than supplements, but the data for supplements are better than they were five years ago."
There is "very little good evidence for the omega-3s from flax and walnuts," said Dr. LaPuma, author of "ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine." But these foods have other benefits, he said. For instance, "flax meal, by itself, is an important part of lowering LDL," or bad cholesterol, Dr. LaPuma said.
Researchers in the new study said they observed "baseline levels of marine omega-3 fatty acids were associated with decelerated telomere attrition over 5 years."
Additionally, Dr. Farzaneh-Far said, "in multiple studies, short telomere length [in white blood cells] has been shown to predict death and cardiovascular events and heart failure." He cautioned that "it's an open question as to whether telomere length is causal or just a marker" of cell death. But he referred to telomere shortening as "a key part of cellular aging."
"To definitively address the question of whether omega-3 fatty acids inhibit cellular aging, a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial would be necessary," the authors wrote. Dr. Farzaneh-Far suggested that such research should be done in healthy adults because the evidence already is powerful on behalf of advantages of these fatty acids in heart patients.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Famer's Markets Foods Recipe Book
http://www.farmersmarketfoods.com/downloads/FMFRecipeBook.pdf
(Check out the Deep Dish Butternut Squash Casserole With Maple-Ginger Crust) wow!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Green Earth Organics
http://www.greenearthorganics.com/
We just received our first delivery from them and everything looks great. I can't wait to start cooking tomorrow.
If you are in the Toronto, Vancouver or Simcoe/Muskoka area you can get local, organic produce delivered right to your door. The prices are reasonable and because they bring it to you, you save time and money. A great service!
Finding Local Food
As part of the 100 Mile Challenge,Food Tv has a local vendor search engine on their website. Check it out.
http://100mile.foodtv.ca/find
2010-Solution Four-Support Your Local Organic Farmer
Tomorrow I am going over to Dingo Farms to pick up some organic clean meat.
http://www.dingofarms.com/
Dingo farms is a family run farm who raises Grass-fed Beef, Lamb, Berkshire Pork, Free-range Chicken and Duck. Their livestock is Naturally Raised: Non GMO, No Antibiotics, and No Hormones. From what I'm told their meat is in high demand at the fancy restaurants in Toronto. I did get some meat from them back in the summer from the Bradford Farmer's Market. Those burgers were good. I can't wait until summer and the grill is fired up again. But for now home cooking in the kitchen with super quality ingredients will do.
Check them out if you are in area or check the listing for a organic farm in your area.
http://www.greenpeople.org/OrganicMeat.html
USA, Canada, UK and others included in listing
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