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Dr. Sears Claims Obesity Crisis Due to Omega 3 to 6 Imbalance

Disproportionately high levels of omega 6 fatty acids in U.S. diets and the need for more omega 3 oils are at the heart of the country’s obesity crisis, according to Dr. Barry Sears, best-selling author of “The Zone,” creator of the Zone Diet and founder of ZoneDiet.com.

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By: Sean Moloughney

Editor, Nutraceuticals World

Disproportionately high levels of omega 6 fatty acids in U.S. diets and the need for more omega 3 oils are at the heart of the country’s obesity crisis, according to Dr. Barry Sears, best-selling author of “The Zone,” creator of the Zone Diet and founder of ZoneDiet.com.

“Relying simply on eating less and exercising more is not enough because the obesity problem is far more intricate,” Dr. Sears said. “Too many omega 6 fatty acids in the diet promote inflammation, while omega 3 fatty acids decrease inflammation. People need a one-to-one balance of omega 6 to omega 3 in the diet, just like it was a century ago, rather than today’s approximate 20-to-one ratio.”

Omega 3 is found in fish oils, walnuts and spinach. Omega 6 is in low-cost vegetable oils, such as corn oil and soybean oil.

“Cutting omega 6 is not easy since as taxpayers we spend about $20 billion a year subsidizing agri-business to produce food ingredients that make us more inflamed. These are some of the most common ingredients in the foods today as virtually all processed food in supermarket aisles contains omega 6 fatty acids,” Dr. Sears said.

The nation’s obesity crisis has resulted in significantly higher incidences of weight-related health issues, from diabetes to heart problems, he noted.

“When parents stopped giving their children fish oil, such as a tablespoon of cod-liver oil a day, as they did a generation or two ago, America started to get fatter. It tastes terrible, but a tablespoon of cod-liver oil has about 2.5 grams of omega 3 fatty acids, and that is enough to turn back the inflammatory tide that is at the base of so many health issues,” he said.

Taking pharmaceutical-grade fish oil is actually preferable because it is more potent and purer, he said. Following an anti-inflammatory diet, such as the Zone Diet, is also important.

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