Omega Balance

Preface
I. Food and Diets
1.. Essentials of nutrition: an evolutionary perspective
The discovery that certain fats are essential in the human diet
How nutrients become essential components of the diet:(i) vitamins: ascorbic acid as an example(ii) the building blocks of proteins: amino acids
Being an animal
2. Omega-balance of foods: seeds, leaves and meats
The "omega-balance" concept
Vegetable oils and their products are the dominant source of omega-6
Nuts and grains provide omega-6 but negligible omega-3 fats
Unusual seeds: some beans provide both omega-3 and omega-6 fats
Green-leaves are important sources of omega-3
The difference between plant-based and animal-based foods
Meats are significant but variable sources of both omega-3 and omega-6
Dairy foods and animal fats are sources of both omega-3 and omega-6
Poultry and poultry products are low in omega-3 fats
Seafood is high in omega-3 and low in omega-6 fats
Key influence of 'seeds' and 'leaves' on omega-balance of animal foods
Importance of meals rather than individual foods
Some general principles
3. Earlier diets: from paleo-times to the mid 20th century
Insights from our anatomy and physiology
The use of isotopes to determine past diets
Paleolithic diets: Neanderthals and early modern humans
The diet of recent hunter-gatherers: the ethnographic evidence
Characteristics of a contemporary Paleolithic diet
Neolithic and later diets: the beginnings of agriculture Isotopes in hair keratin: important evidence of early diets Pottery: what was stored or cooked in it
The emergence of milk and dairy in the adult diet
Case study 1: PUFA in the U.S. food supply, 1910 to 1960
4. The omega story: diet changes over the last half-century The provision of fat in the world food supply: 1961-2018 The global commodity boom in vegetable oils
The dramatic rise of ultra-processed food
Case Study 2: PUFA in U.S. food supply, 1961-2010
Dietary surveys of different populations
Changes in traditional diets: Maasai and Inuit as examples
Trend I: the shift from animal fats to vegetable oils
Trend II: the grain feeding of livestock
Trend III: the decline of full-fat dairy
Trend IV: the rise of pork and poultry
5. The importance of cell membranes and the link with diet
Visible and invisible fats
Membrane composition: membrane fats and membrane proteins
Saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids: the differences
The importance of membranes for being 'alive'
Membranes and the cost of living: insights from different species
The behaviour of membrane fats: fluidity and membrane remodelling
Diet fat and membrane composition: an experiment with rats
Diet omega-balance: an experiment on myself
Omega-3 and omega-6: different effects on membrane processes
An important membrane fatty acid: arachidonic acid, 20:4w-6
The omega story so far
II. CONSEQUENCES and SOLUTIONS
6.. Obesity and diabetes
The obesity epidemic is not a morality tale
Low energy expenditure, high food intake or something else?
High-fat diets?
Diet omega-balance and human obesity
Membrane omega-balance and human obesity
Omega-6 fats and the development of fat cells
'Munchies' and the endocannabinoids
Role of PUFA in making fat from excess dietary carbohydrates
The diabetes epidemic: emergence of syndrome X
Metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance and membranes
Diet omega-balance and glucose tolerance: my own experiment
A larger syndrome?
7.. Cardiovascular disease and inflammation
Ancel Keys and the emergence of the diet-heart hypothesis
A trip to Greenland: the Eskimo paradox and omega-3
Diet omega-balance and cardiovascular disease
The French paradox: wine or cheese?
The Israeli paradox: omega-6 and heart disease So, what is the cause of coronary heart disease?
Inflammation: the role of omega-6 PUFA
The influence of diet omega-balance on inflammation
Chronic inflammation: linking the 'modern epidemics'
8. Allergies, auto-immune diseases and cancer
Diseases associated with chronic inflammation
Asthma and allergies
Rheumatoid arthritis
Type 1 diabetes
Multiple sclerosis
Inflammatory bowel disease
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Macular degeneration
Chronic inflammation and cancer
9. On the brain and on pain
The importance of membrane 22:6w-3 in brain function
The beginning: early fatty acid nutrition and brain development
Avoiding the end: cognitive decline and dementia
The middle: diet omega-balance and normal brain function
Diet omega-balance and chronic pain
10. Mental Health and Happiness
Diet omega-balance and emotion: anxiety, aggression and violence
Diet omega-balance and depression: "the inflamed mind"
From a 'traditional' to a 'modern' diet: the Inuit example
11. Of mice and men
Lessons from the Fat-1 mouse
12. The omega story and solutions: food composition, labels and diet choices.
Change without knowledge and understanding
Consequences and co-morbidities
Omega-balance not minimum requirements
The rise of trans fats
A long life? A happy life?
Food labels and databases
Dietary guidelines
Some Final Comments
Acknowledgments
Appendix I: List of foods: omega-balance and PUFA content
Appendix II: List of fatty acids
Notes
Index