Q. I’m confused after reading an article about omega-6 fatty acids being bad for you. If soybean oil is high in omega-6s, are soybean oil and other soybean products bad for you? – Anonymous
A. First, let’s clear up some reputations: Soybeans are good. So are omega-6s. Like the fatty acids with the better rep (omega-3s), they’re “essential,” meaning your body needs them but can’t make them itself. So you have to get them from what you eat.
The problem is that your body needs these two essential fatty acids in a certain ratio for brain health, normal growth and development, but the Western diet doesn’t deliver that ratio — it’s too heavily tipped toward 6s. We should be consuming just two to four times more omega-6s than omega-3s, but we probably get 14 to 25 times more, often through vegetable oils (including soybean oil), and especially in processed and junk foods.
The trouble: The components of those oils break down into arachadonic acid, which is more inflammatory than Howard Stern. Too much AA can lead to high blood pressure, allergies, narrowed arteries and blood clots, which is why it is linked to heart disease, asthma, cancer and arthritis. The Mediterranean diet, with its focus on fish, whole grains, fruits, vegetables and olive or canola oil (both are rich in omega-3s), keeps omega-3s and 6s in a healthy balance. So as long as you’re getting plenty of omega-3 fats, bring on the tofu, edamame and soy burgers!
Q. How can I bring down my blood pressure other than by dieting? I am 57 and try to eat properly, but I know I am missing other areas. I weigh 145 pounds, I’m female and was just diagnosed with arthritis. – Mary Lou, via e-mail
A. You can kill two birds with one lifestyle change by exercising every day. Regular aerobic exercise — the kind that raises your heart rate, done for 20 to 30 minutes most days of the week — can kick blood pressure down six to seven points (3.84 mm hG for the top number and 2.58 for the bottom) in people who were previously couch potatoes. Daily exercise (yes, every day) also can help keep your joints flexible and fight pain and stiffness.
But we must put in a good word for eating well, specifically for following the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet and reducing portion sizes if you need to lose weight. It isn’t a “diet” as much as it is a healthy eating program. While dropping your BP by seven points is good, kicking it down by almost 20 and lowering cholesterol at the same time is even better.
That’s what the double-DASH approach can do: Exercise aerobically (“dash” off 30 minutes’ worth of physical activity every day) and do the awesome diet, which is low in sodium; crammed with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, lean meats, poultry, fish, nuts and seeds; and contains very little added sugar.
Q. You’ve recommended nuts for healthy fats (especially walnuts) but didn’t mention pecans. How do they rate? They’re abundant where I live and economical. In fact, I was given a grocery bag of just-picked pecans last week. – Herbert, Valdosta, Ga.
A. As long as your pecan snacks don’t involve sugar and corn syrup — those mainstays of pecan pie — you can enjoy a handful of pecans every day and feel proud. In one study, people who popped 3/4 cup of pecans every day for eight weeks, but otherwise ate normally, saw their lousy LDL cholesterol drop by 10 percent while their intake of healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats and fiber went up. Thank you, pecans. (By the way, the study was done in New Mexico, not in Georgia, America’s No. 1 pecan producer, so there was no hometown bias.)
Other research has found that pecans have the highest antioxidant content of all tree nuts. They contain 19 vitamins and minerals, as well as about 10 percent of your daily fiber. What pecans don’t have that walnuts do is omega-3 fatty acids, but they’re still a good choice for healthy snacking, especially if you get them for free.
The YOU Docs, Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen, are authors of “YOU: Having a Baby.” To submit questions, visit realage.com.
