Flax seeds are the richest commonly available seed source of alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3’s). Alpha-linolenic acid is one of the essential fatty acids – “essential” because they cannot be produced within the body and must be acquired through diet. Most oils and their corresponding seeds contain more omega-6’s, so it’s good to work on getting more omega-3’s to achieve an optimum balance.

If you are trying to restore the balance between omega-6 and omega-3 essential fatty acids in your diet, you may want to eat a tablespoon or two of flax seeds every day. Some experts recommend eating whole flax seed rather than flax seed oil because you get the whole package: the protein, fiber, minerals and phytochemicals along with the omega-3’s.

20 grams of flax seed (2 Tablespoons) yields about:
7 grams of fat (60% omega-3 polyunsaturated, 18% monounsaturated, 10% saturated)
5 grams of protein
5 grams of fiber (3 grams insoluble, 2 grams soluble)
1 gram of minerals
2 grams of water

Flax seeds are also the best source of the phytochemical lignan (not to be confused with lignins, a type of fiber). Flax contains 100 times the concentration of lignan as wheat bran, the next best source. This phytochemical is believed to have anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-cancer properties

Unless you do something to break the hard outer coating of the flax seeds, they may pass through your body undigested. Whirl them in a blender for a few seconds to break them into rough pieces, or mash them with a mortar and pestle. Or you can grind them into a meal with a coffee mill or spice grinder. You can also buy flax meal already ground – although it may go rancid more quickly than the whole seed.

Omega-3’s are the least stable of the fatty acids, so the oil turns rancid quickly if it is exposed to heat, light or air. Grind the seeds shortly before you eat them, and store any surplus in the refrigerator or freezer. Flax oil should also be stored in the refrigerator, with the cap tightly closed. Do not buy flax oil from a shelf, only from a refrigerator.

Sprinkle your seeds on cereal or salads, into smoothies, or on just about any other food. They have very little flavor and just a bit of crunch. If they taste unpleasant, they’re rancid and you need a new batch.

A caution: you should not eat more than three or four tablespoons of raw flax seeds a day (we think one or two is plenty.) They contain cyanogen which is harmless in small amounts, but in large amounts can act to keep your thyroid from taking up enough iodine. Cyanogen is rendered inactive by cooking. But the omega-3’s are compromised, too.

Add 1-2 Tablespoons of ground flax seeds to your daily healthy diet of vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains and other seeds.

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Our recipe today supports vegan baking. Ground flax, when combined with water, makes a flax slurry. This is sometimes called flax eggs, and it can often be used in place of eggs. It has the consistency of egg whites.

Flax Eggs
egg replacer for vegan baking

1/3 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup water

Grind flax seeds in spice grinder. Transfer to blender or food processor. Turn processor/blender on, and slowly add the water. Blend till mixed well and consistency of a milkshake. Store in fridge in well sealed container. Use 3 Tablespoons for every egg in baking recipes. Will keep for 2-3 days in the fridge.

Photo by Kermo Perkele

We’ve been talking about cholesterol numbers – here and here. To improve your cholesterol profile, try the following:

• Lose weight. Even a modest amount of weight loss can lower cholesterol levels.
• Reduce the amount of saturated fat you eat. Saturated fat comes from animal sources – meat, eggs, dairy. And of course, all their derivatives found in processed foods.
• Avoid trans-fats, which reduce HDL (happy, healthy) levels and raise LDL (lousy, loser) levels. If you find “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” listed in the ingredients, put that item back on the shelf and look for something else.
• Exercise. Daily aerobic exercise increases HDL levels.
• Don’t smoke. Smoking is a risk factor for heart disease all by itself, but can also significantly lower HDL cholesterol.
• Relax. Emotional stress may trigger the body to release fat into the bloodstream, raising cholesterol levels. Try yoga, meditation, contemplative prayer, or tai chi.
• Eat 2 ounces (1/4 cup) of nuts every day. Nuts, especially almonds, walnuts and cashews, contain heart-healthy monounsaturated fat.
• Substitute soy protein for animal protein. The protein in soy foods has been shown to lower cholesterol levels. Choose the less-processed forms of soy, such as tofu, tempeh, whole soy beans (edamame), and roasted soy nuts.
• Season your food with fresh garlic. Garlic has been shown to lower both cholesterol levels and blood pressure – and it tastes wonderful, too. Use one or two raw or lightly cooked cloves a day.
• Eat high-fiber foods, such as beans and lentils, apples, citrus fruits, oats, barley, peas, carrots and ground flax seed.
• Cut out the white foods – foods based on sugar and flour. A diet full of cookies, cakes, crackers, fluffy breads, chips and sodas can increase triglyceride levels and lower HDL.
• Take a high-quality fish oil supplement. Fish oil contains an abundance of essential fatty acids known as omega-3s. Daily fish oil is an effective preventive strategy against heart disease, and has been shown to lower triglyceride levels, minimize inflammation and clotting, and increase HDL cholesterol.

There are four numbers that doctors look at when they check your cholesterol. We looked at the total blood cholesterol in part 1. Today we’ll look at the other three numbers – LDL, HDL, and triglycerides. These numbers all measure how much cholesterol is in your bloodstream at the time of the blood test.

First the LDL and HDL.

• Cholesterol is carried through the bloodstream attached to two different compounds called lipoproteins: low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL).
• You can think of LDL as the “lousy, loser” cholesterol. It carries cholesterol from the liver throughout the body, making it available and potentially allowing it to be deposited in artery walls. LDL also picks up other substances that can accumulate in the walls of arteries to form “plaque.” Over time, plaque builds up, and the arteries narrow and harden. The rough surface of plaque can also provide a site for blood to clot, sometimes completely blocking an artery.
• For people at risk for heart disease, an LDL level of under 100 mg/dl is the current government recommendation. In general, the lower this number is, the better off you are.*
  You can think of HDL as the “happy, healthy” cholesterol. It picks up cholesterol from the blood and delivers it to cells that use it, or back to the liver to be recycled or eliminated from the body. It’s doing the hard work of keeping your body clean and healthy.
• According to new guidelines from the National Cholesterol Education Program, HDL levels of 60 mg/dl or above are classified as high and considered protective against heart disease, while levels below 40 mg/dl are classified as low and are associated with a higher risk of coronary heart disease.*
• Both HDL and LDL levels are influenced by heredity, diet, weight, exercise, age, gender, alcohol consumption, and stress.

And now the triglycerides.

• Triglycerides are the chemical form in which fat moves through the bloodstream to your body’s tissues. They are neither good nor bad.
• Triglycerides are derived from fats in your diet and are also made in the body from other energy sources such as carbohydrates. When calories you consume are not used immediately, they are converted to triglycerides and stored in fat cells. Hormones then regulate their release to meet energy needs.
• Levels lower than 150 mg/dL are considered normal and levels above 200 mg/dL are considered too high.*
• High triglyceride levels can be genetic, but dietary influences are strong. Carbs are the main factor affecting triglyceride levels in the blood – but that doesn’t mean carbs should be avoided. Instead, eat high-fiber carbs like whole grains, vegetables, legumes, and fruits. Avoid the “white” foods and processed foods. Does this sound familiar? Check out Marilu’s Total Health Makeover!
• High triglyceride levels usually partner with low HDL cholesterol. They also come with an “apple” shape (more weight around the middle), a tendency toward high blood pressure, and a higher risk for type 2 diabetes.

Focusing only on cholesterol levels may hide other heart disease risk factors, such as lack of fitness, chronic stress, smoking, inflammation, poor diet, and diabetes. The best approach to heart health is to monitor and manage all of these risk factors. Join Marilu.com and get the program, the coaching, and the community to help you succeed in improving your total health!

*These numbers are generalizations, and what is “good” or “bad” for you may be different. Ask your health care provider to explain your numbers when you get your cholesterol test results.

Cholesterol is essential to health.

• It contributes to the formation of many essential compounds, including vitamin D, bile acid, estrogen, and testosterone.
• Cholesterol is manufactured in the liver of every animal. Including you.
• Your body has it’s own “natural” level of cholesterol, which is completely unrelated to your diet.
• Your diet can increase your cholesterol numbers if you eat lots of animal-based foods. Your diet can reduce your cholesterol numbers, too – eating a plant-based diet with little or no animal fat will bring your cholesterol numbers back to their “natural” (non-diet-related) level.
• Cholesterol is measured with a blood test. The total blood cholesterol is the amount of cholesterol circulating in your bloodstream. Total blood cholesterol consists of the HDL, LDL, and triglyceride measures. More on those in the next few days.
• Total blood cholesterol offers a direct correlation to how much plaque has been deposited in your arteries. Plaque is made up of cholesterol, fat, and other debris in the body. It sticks to artery walls, and the more that’s there, the more gets stuck to it.
• Nutrients that will help lower cholesterol include lecithin (from soybeans and other legumes), vitamin C (from citrus fruits, peppers, and cabbage), vitamin E (from unprocessed grains), and niacin (from unprocessed grains like rye, oats, and quinoa). Plant fiber (from fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes) helps reduce the fat in the blood.

Just a note on tilapia – the fish that was practically unknown in 2000, but was one of the top 5 fish consumed by 2005.

There was some info last fall about tilapia being so overloaded with omega-6 fats that it was probably better to eat a cheeseburger. Well. That is just wrong.

Most tilapia are farm-raised. That means they may not be the healthiest choice of fish (wild-caught fish is better – that’s fish living and eating in its natural habitat).

Check the package label or ask at the fish counter about the country of origin. There are better regulations against over-fishing in the US, Canada, and Scandinavia. That’s not an exhaustive list, but it’s a start.

Since tilapia is high in omega-6s, be sure to add some flax seed (ground for better absorption of nutrients) or flax oil into your daily menu. The high concentration of omega-3s in flax will help balance the omega-6s of the tilapia.

Skip the cheeseburger. Eat smarter.

Most dietary oils come from seeds, and from leafy greens and sea vegetables. All of these are “good oils,” supplying essential fatty acids (EFAs) from three families: omega-3, omega-6, and omega-9 fatty acids. Omega fats are all classes of polyunsaturated fats.

The human body cannot manufacture omega-3s or omega-6s, so they must be supplied in the diet. They are therefore considered “essential.” Omega-9s can be made within the body and are not considered essential, although they have many health benefits. Relative ratios of omega-3s and omega-6s from our diet have shifted dramatically over the centuries, with the most pronounced shift occurring in the past 40 or 50 years. While the hunter/gatherer diet was high in omega-3s and lower in omega-6s, today our diets are higher in omega-6s than in omega-3s. We eat far too many omega-6 oils and too few omega-3 oils, and we are paying the health consequences.

Benefits of omega fats:

1. Keep cell membranes fluid and flexible which in turn affects the white blood cells that repel invaders of the body.
2. Promote normal growth, especially of blood vessels and nerves.
3. Keep the skin and other tissues youthful and supple through lubrication.
4. Are key components of nerve cells and hormone-like substances known as prostaglandins.
5. Improve nerve blood flow, nerve conduction and prevent neuropathy.

Omega-3s can be found in raw nuts, seeds, beans, fish oil, and unrefined vegetable oils such as flax, hemp, walnut and than mainstay of many of the world’s diets, the soybean. Experts advise us to add more omega-3 rich foods to our diet so that the proper ratios between omega-3s and omega-6s are restored.

Omega-3 rich dietary oils and the percent each contains are:

• Flaxseed (57 percent)
• soy (8 percent)
• walnut (5 percent)
• pumpkin seed (15 percent)

These oils, however, must be converted in the human body into longer chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPs) needed for cell membrane transport and key cellular functions. They are not immediately available to the body upon ingestion, but adding them to your diet still increases your LCPs.

Fish supply “ready-made” omega-3 because their bodies have already converted the parent omega-3 EFA alpha linolenic acid (ALA) from various food sources. We can also get the preformed LCPs by consuming certain kinds of seaweed and algae, best gotten through supplementation with DHA.

Omega-6s can be found in certain vegetable oils such as safflower, sunflower and sesame as well as hemp, walnut and soybean oils.

Omega-9s are monounsaturated fatty acids. Omega-9s can be manufactured by our bodies, so they are not considered an ‘essential’ fatty acid, but we still need to maintain healthy levels of this fat. Omega-9 can be found in flax, hemp, and fish oils.

The next time you are shopping, stock up on fishes, flax seed and other oils, seaweeds, and nuts. (You can find flax seed oil in the refrigerated section of your health food store).

Remember; store these oils in the fridge. Keep them cool and away from light and air. These three things can make your oil go rancid and transform some of the fat. And we all know what transformed fats are: the always bad-for-you trans-fatty acids.

Baked Tuna With Tomato Pesto
Blue ~ Serves 6 generously

6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts (or use walnuts, almonds, or cashews)
1 28 oz can Italian-style peeled tomatoes, drained and chopped
4 Tablespoons cold-pressed olive oil
6 tuna steaks,* about 5 oz each, 1-inch thick

Preheat oven to 425F.

Place the first 7 ingredients into a food processor and grind until smooth. Put mixture into a bowl, add the tomatoes and carefully mash into a coarse paste. Whisk in the olive oil. Smother the tuna steaks with the pesto and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Place the marinated tuna steaks with the pesto marinara into a baking pan. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes, or until the steaks are medium – still nice and pink inside – when checked with a sharp knife.

Serve immediately with the pesto and some nice steamed vegetables on the side. Accompany this with a fresh spring green salad with Italian balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

To make dressing, just add 1/4 teaspoon basil, and 1/4 teaspoon oregano to a small bottle of any balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Shake well and let stand for a few hours before serving.

*Budget tip – Prices for fish usually drop during Lent (starts Wednesday, February 25 this year). Check for sales, and stock up.

Avocados are so good for you! Every woman over 40 should eat half an avocado a day because it provides the healthy fats you need to combat the dryness of aging. Those fats are good for your brain, and help you absorb your supplements, too.

Here’s my favorite salad right now.

Each plate of greens is half spinach and half arugula.

Top each plate of greens with half an avocado, sliced.

For the dressing, grate one shallot, sprinkle it with a little red wine vinegar, and whisk in about twice as much olive oil with a fork. Drizzle about a teaspoon on your salad.

We’ve been eating this a lot lately, and everyone loves it. I hope you enjoy it, too!

Photo by Robbie Owen-Wahl

Regular commercial oils are made using heat and hexane (a powerful solvent) to extract the oil from seeds, plants, and sea life. The heat changes the nature of the oil molecule from a normal trans-fatty acid to an abnormal configuration. Molecules of hexane are left behind after the extraction process. In addition, there may be molecules of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides from the growing process, if the plants were not organically grown!

The solution is to use cold-pressed oils, which are extracted using a high-pressure press (no heat and no hexane). When the plants are organically grown, there are also no chemicals, no pesticides and no genetic engineering. The pressing also occurs at much cooler temperatures.

At this point, the oils may be bottled or combined with other products to create margarine.

There’s no further processing, no additives, no preservatives, no caustic sodas, no bleaching, etc. Because of this, cold-pressed oils are very delicate and need to be handled with care to preserve their delicate flavors and high nutrition values. Always store cold-pressed oils in a cool dark place. Heat and sunlight will cause these oils to go rancid quickly. They will also transform the fats contained in the oil into trans-fatty acids.

Use cold-pressed oils in nearly all your recipes that call for oil. They are especially good on salads and other fresh food where the flavor and freshness of the oil is important. Most commercial oils come in a cold-pressed version. Do not use cold-pressed oils for high temperature frying or sautéing. These delicate oils do not work well at high temps.

Here’s a very basic salad recipe, with a simple vinaigrette. For a main dish, add 4 oz canned or grilled tuna or chicken, or 1/2 cup beans (such as cannellini beans or aduki beans).

Marilu’s Salad 101 and Dressing 101
Purple * serves 1

2 cups mixed greens
1/2 tomato, sliced
1/2 cucumber, sliced
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (or apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon cold-pressed olive oil

Arrange mixed greens, tomato and cucumber in a salad bowl or on a salad plate. In a small bowl, combine vinegar, mustard, and oil and mix well. Drizzle on top of salad and toss.