Available:*
Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000010134394 | QP752.O44 A44 2006 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
A nutritional whodunit that takes readers from Greenland to Africa to Israel, The Queen of Fats gives a fascinating account of how we have become deficient in a nutrient that is essential for good health: the fatty acids known as omega-3s. Writing with intelligence and passion, Susan Allport tells the story of these vital fats, which are abundant in greens and fish, among other foods. She describes how scientists came to understand the role of omega-3s in our diet, why commercial processing has removed them from the food we eat, and what the tremendous consequences have been for our health. In many Western countries, epidemics of inflammatory diseases and metabolic disorders have been traced to omega-3 deficiencies. The Queen of Fats provides information for every consumer who wants to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and obesity and to improve brain function and overall health. This important and compelling investigation into the discovery, science, and politics of omega-3s will transform our thinking about what we should be eating.
* Includes steps you can take to add omega-3s to your diet
* Shows why eating fish is not the only way, or even the best way, to increase omega-3s.
* Provides a new way to understand the complex advice about the role and importance of fats in the body
* Explains how and why the food industry has created a deadly imbalance of fats in our foods
* Shows how omega-3s can be reintroduced to our diet through food enrichment and changes in the feeding of livestock
Author Notes
Susan Allport is author of The Primal Feast: Food, Sex, Foraging, and Love and A Natural History of Parenting: Parental Care in the Animal World and Ours, among other books. She lectures widely on issues related to food and health.
Reviews 1
Choice Review
Allport, a science writer and contributor to The New York Times, has written an engaging and fascinating account of the discovery and appreciation of dietary omega-3 fatty acids, those fatty acids that come from leaves and fish, rather than from seeds and land animals. Her well-researched book tells of the scientists who learned that the unusual diet of the Greenland Eskimos, comprising whale and seal blubber, not only appeared to protect them from heart disease (even though it was extraordinarily high in fat), but also caused their blood to clot much more slowly than that of the Danes, whose diet included large amounts of dairy products. Offering enough fat chemistry and physiology to help explain the critical role of these fats in the prevention of chronic inflammation and disease, this book is important for general readers as well as nutrition and health care professionals. Allport includes practical suggestions for increasing these essential fats in one's diet. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. All levels. A. P. Boyar CUNY Herbert H. Lehman College
Table of Contents
| 1 What's for Dinner? | p. 1 |
| 2 A Trip to Greenland | p. 14 |
| 3 How the Omegas Got Their Name | p. 25 |
| 4 Monsieur Cholesterol | p. 45 |
| 5 Fishy Fats | p. 54 |
| 6 Tree Lard and Cow Oil | p. 68 |
| 7 The Chemist in the Kitchen | p. 76 |
| 8 Out of Africa ... | p. 86 |
| 9 ... and into the Membrane | p. 96 |
| 10 Where Have All the Omega-3s Gone? | p. 103 |
| 11 The Speed of Life | p. 120 |
| 12 Putting Omega-3s Back into Your Food Supply | p. 138 |
| 13 The Proof Is in the Pudding | p. 147 |
| Time Line | p. 153 |
| Glossary | p. 159 |
| Notes | p. 169 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 201 |
| Index | p. 205 |
