Essential fats are important for mind and mood. In fact, 60 per cent of the brain is made from fat, and essential fats make a big difference to brain cell communication. So if you want to be naturally high you need to ensure an optimal intake of them. We estimate that around 30 per cent of the calories in your diet should come from fat.
The average diet consists of 40 per cent fat, mainly from meat, dairy products and junk foods, which are high in saturated and hydrogenated fats. These hydrogenated fats may sound good on food labels, where they are often described as polyunsaturated hydrogenated vegetable oils. But in truth, hydrogenating a fat makes it like a saturated fat, no longer able to do all the wonderful things that the unprocessed (essential) polyunsaturated fats can do. Even worse, while they can be incorporated into the brain, they don't work. The junk foods literally numb their thinking processes. In other words, the wrong kind of fats literally lowers your intelligence and worsens your mood.
Alpha and Omega : the essential fats.
The reverse is also true. If you increase your intake of the right kinds of polyunsaturated fats, your mind and mood will get a tremendous boost. These are omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids or EFAs, and you need equal amounts of these in your diet. Omega-3 fats are found in flaxseeds (also called linseeds) and in fish, especially oily coldwater fish such as herring, mackerel, tuna and salmon. Omega-6 fats are found in sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and oils.
Seeds are also a wonderful source of protein, minerals and vitamin E. We recommend you eat a heaped tablespoon of seeds every day. An ideal mix would be half flaxseeds, with the remaining half made of sesame, sunflower, hemp and pumpkin seeds. Since some of these seeds are quite tough, you will get more nutrients out of them by grinding them in a coffee grinder and then sprinkling them on cereal, soups, salads or casseroles.
Essential fats are easily damaged and lose their nutritional value if heated or stored too long, especially if they are exposed to light. So the best way to protect the oils in seeds is to keep them in a tightly sealed glass jar in the fridge.
In addition to your daily heaped tablespoon of the ground seed mix, adding one of the following will help you achieve an optimal intake of omega-3 fats:
* A serving of an oily fish three times a week,
*A daily fish oil supplement providing 400 mg of EPA plus DHA, or (for strict vegetarians)
*A daily dessertspoon of flaxseed oil, or
*An additional heaped tablespoon of ground or soaked flaxseeds.
You can also buy organic cold-pressed seed oil blends that provide both omega-3 and omega-6 fats. These are great to use in salad dressings, in preference to olive oil (which only provides 8 per cent omega-6) and instead of butter, drizzled on vegetables or other food after cooking. Never use polyunsaturated oils for frying though.
Essential fats need to be in balance with your brain. EFAs that hang off phospholipid molecules in the brain are either DHA (a type of omega-3 fat) or arachidonic acid (an omega-6 fat).
Arachidonic acid is found in animal meat, squid, eggs and milk and can also be made from those omega-6 fats found in seeds, although you only tend to make what you need from these seeds. Too much arachidonic acid isn't good for you, which is why a diet high in meat and low in fish can worsen mental and emotional performance. So a good balance is really key.
Patrick Holford & Dr Hyla Cass
Natural High
