Eat Fish: Treat your Heart, Mind, and Soul

Heart: A few weeks ago, I posted about the best foods for heart health. Fish topped the list, because of the Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are considered an “essential” fatty acids, meaning that they are necessary for human health, but the body cannot make them, so they must be consumed through your diet. The American Heart Association suggests eating fish (in particular, fatty fish, such as mackeral, late trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna, and salmon) at least twice a week. As I discussed in more detail in my Valentines Day post, the “good” fat, found in fish can actually reduce cholesterol levels, and reduce your risk of heart disease

Mind: 60% of our brains, that is not taken up by water is fat. This proves that the functional (“good”) fat is crucial for brain function. Omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon, walnuts, flaxseed, and dark leafy greens are a good source of these good fats, and can help boost your brain function.

Another study from UCLA also confirms this truth. The researchers at UCLA conducted a series of about 1,600 brain MRI’s (of people showing no signs of dementia) and saw that people who had low levels of omega-3 fatty acids, has less brain volume compared with those with high levels. When the scans are shown, you can see that the brain with less volume more closely resembles a brain with dementia. The trial also tested for problem solving, multitasking, and visual memory and the level of omega-3 had the same correlation – low levels of omega-3 = lower brain function.

Soul:

The Omega-3s in fish significantly decrease the risk of developing depression. This trend has been found by observing diets in different cultures and different times. Over history, we, as humans – or at least Americans- have gone from being fish eaters to land raised meat eaters. The ocean fish, in particular are what have been directly linked to our happiness. As we have eaten less and less fish as a population, the rates of depression have skyrocketed. This assertion is backed up by several clinical studies (such as the MRI’s mentioned above as mentioned above) and studies of other cultures who consume fish as a large part of their diet. Scandanavians who eat much more fish than we do, are statistically the happiest people on earth. 

Also a few notes from this week:
I made this Monday's Meatless Monday recipe on Tuesday. The cooking times from the recipe I posted were too short for me, I would have prefered to cook it longer because the carrots were a little hard for my taste... but I thought the recipe tasted great :)

Also take advantage of this great early spring weather! I babysat yesterday and it was so nice to get outside and ride bikes around the block with my baby cousins. In the afternoon my class at the gym was the fullest its ever been, which was great to see. It was a great class and being warm walking to the gym in shorts made it even better!!

My cousins out for a bike ride