What women (and men) want

    Nutritional information seems to come to us as a plethora of factoids with little context to help fit it into the grand scheme of things. For example, we are urged to pay attention to the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids. But then you wonder, what in the world is an omega-3 and why is it good when other fatty acids are less desirable and how do we know if we are getting enough? And what the heck is a fatty acid anyway and why do we want them?! Without details, we are reduced to a simplistic approach with limited application … take food label claims at face value and hope.     Offer too much “chemistry talk” and listeners have a tendency to suddenly remember a terribly pressing errand, possibly in another state. Maybe an analogy is easier to assimilate than raw biochemistry. Picture fatty acids as chains of carbon atoms strung together like pearls on a necklace. Some are simple in design, like the single strand complementing the classic little black dress, and some have fancy side chains or beading to jazz them up for Mardi gras. Some “strands of pearls” can be disassembled and restrung in other forms; some must come from the diet and cannot be constructed from another “necklace” no matter how much “jewelry” you wear on any given day. Each has a “clasp” on one end that is always structured the same. It is this end that allows your body to assemble fatty acids into different structures like cell membranes, blood plasma proteins, prostaglandins, and hormones.
    Omega-3s are a “Batman Utility Belt” among fatty acids. They can be deconstructed and reassembled so our bodies can use them to synthesize multiples of metabolic products that are necessary for our health. However, they are essential fatty acids, meaning they must come from the diet and can’t be synthesized by our body from other foods. So we need to eat them in adequate amounts on a regular basis. They are an anti-inflammatory in our bloodstream and enhance neural growth and health — that would be “smart food grows smart people” in simplistic terms. Our metabolic system favors a “hunter-gatherer diet” with a ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids of roughly 1:1.
    The food selections look a lot like what your Mom tried to get you to eat when you were a kid … heavy on vegetables and roots, high in fiber, and laced with a variety of plant proteins. The veggies are supplemented by protein from grazing or browsing animals. Grass-farmed food (pastured chicken, eggs, beef, milk, pork, lamb, goats etc.) has a lot of great things going for it, not the least of which are great taste and low fat, but even more importantly, high omega-3 values. Modern man gains very real and measurable health benefits from consuming livestock that was given an opportunity to live on pasture and eat a diet of mixed greens. We are what they eat!
    Fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as grass-farmed meat and eggs, are available weekly at the Presque Isle Farmers Market. These are the foods to which our bodies are adapted and the fuel on which we best function. Stop by and give your body what it wants … your Mom would be proud!
    Editor’s note: This weekly column is written by members of the Presque Isle Farmers’ Market. For more information or to join, contact their secretary/treasurer Steve Miller of Westmanland at 896-5860 or via e-mail at beetree@xpressamerica.net