Most popular health articles I read agree: we all need more Omega-3 fatty acids in our diets. Some experts say if you are going to take just one supplement, make it an Omega-3.
Omega-3 fatty acids are important for our bodies in ways we understand and ways we don’t. What we do know is that food sources with a high ratio of Omega-6 fatty acids to Omega-3 fatty acids are bad for human bodies. Modern scholars associate many ailments like heart disease and breast and prostate cancers with excessive Omega-6 consumption.
If Omega-3 fatty acids are so important to good health, how did people historically get their Omega-3 ration? Not every culture has access to fish and fish oil in its diet. Where else does Omega-3 come from? Why are we deficient in Omega-3 now?
I think the culprit is the industrial protein industry. Mass-market grain-fed beef is high in Omega-6, low in Omega-3. So are commercially produced eggs. Pastured beef and free-range eggs have much higher ratios of Omega-3 to Omega-6. Contrary to the conventional wisdom about meat and eggs, these foods are good for you if the animals that produce the protein consume a diet resembling what Mother Nature intended.
So how do you get more Omega-3 without burping fish oil all day long? Get your meat and eggs locally from a farmer who raises pastured beef and free-range eggs. Some people have told me they think grass-fed beef tastes “different.” Maybe that’s true, as our palates are accustomed to feedlot beef. My experience with local grass-fed beef is that it tastes better. Beefier. Grocery store grass-fed beef has not lived up to my expectations.
Find a beef farmer close by who raises beef you like. Many deliver. Free-range eggs are available from a number of sources, but I am working on my henhouse!
Healthier food produced by people you know: one more way that community food self-sufficiency promotes public health.
This post originally appeared on the author’s blog, The Lucky Grasshopper.
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