The Beauty/Brain Connection
By Danna Demetre, RN

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IF YOU KNEW there was a powerful nutrient that would stimulate your brain, revitalize your skin, slow down aging, improve fat metabolism, lubricate your joints, decrease inflammation and protect your heart …wouldn’t you make sure your body got plenty of it? But, what if this nutrient was found in only a handful of foods that you rarely ate on a daily basis? And, what if the foods you were eating regularly were throwing off a key balance causing you more damage because you lacked this key nutrient? If you don’t address this almost universal nutritional gap, your body and most importantly, your brain will be short-changed.

The nutrient I am talking about is an essential fatty acid called omega 3. It is one of only two fats that are considered essential for life, the other being omega 6. Our body cannot produce these fats and must have them to function properly. In addition to the list of great benefits above, I’ve listed some other compelling facts later in this article. I’ve been notching up my omegas for about a year and I can see the difference in my skin. And, except for my occasional hormonal “menopause brain freezes”; my ability to concentrate and recall information is terrific!

Are YOU getting enough Omega 3 fat?
The best sources of omega 3 essential fatty acids are salmon, swordfish, tuna, shark, pecans, almonds, walnuts, soy nuts, flax seed and deep green vegetables like kale and turnip greens. So, let me ask you a question. How many of these foods do you eat everyday? We need the equivalent amount of omega 3 fats we find in a serving of salmon (about 3500 milligrams) EVERY day. All the other sources (even fish) are at least one quarter the amount found in salmon specifically. And, we are being cautioned to watch our intake of large fishes because they contain higher amounts of mercury. (Another sad example of man’s lack of stewardship for the resources God has so abundantly providedL)

In his New York Times runaway bestseller The Wrinkle Cure, world-renowned dermatologist, Dr. Perricone established and documented the incredible benefits of omega 3 fats. He writes that for the quickest non-surgical facelift possible, we should eat salmon at least 10 times a week! Now if you LOVE salmon, have an unlimited budget and like to cook fish on daily basis, that might work for you. For the rest of us, there’s a much easier, more affordable, and even lower calorie way to get all the benefits…supplementation. Since not all supplements are equal and omega 3 fats can spoil quickly, I did some research and recommend THE ULTIMATE OMEGA’S by Nordic Naturals.

According to naturopathic doctor, Jordan Rubin in his book Patient Heal Thyself “There may not be a single nutritional supplement or pharmacological drug today that can offer the same level of protection against cancer, heart disease and the inflammatory response that impacts many other diseases."

The real problem is we’re out of balance
The balance of the two essential fatty acids (omega 3 and omega 6) is critical to good health. Omega 6 fatty acids are found in vegetable oils. They are very easy to get into our diets on a daily basis because the food industry made a massive shift away from using animal fats, such as butter and lard, to making products out of vegetable fats. Commercial baked goods, salad dressings and cooking oils are all based on these plant source fats, like soybean, canola and olive oil. Yes, they are much better for us than the alternative. But, you can get too much of a good thing. And almost everyone has.

As a result of this shift, most people probably obtain sufficient omega 6 fatty acids. But, our diet is woefully short of the omega-3 fatty acid creating a huge disparity. This imbalance causes an inflammatory response all over our bodies, hardening areas of the brain, creating cardiovascular disease, decreasing lubrication in our joints, aging our skin and more. Yuck!

While the ideal ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 should be somewhere between 1:1 and 1:3, the majority of Americans are at rations of 1:20 to 1:30. Yikes! This huge discrepancy is causing huge health concerns. Since we all get sufficient omega-6 fatty acids in our diet, the practical challenge is to eat more of the omega-3 fatty acids. With that in mind, here are a few facts that may motivate you to get your omega 3 intake up…up…up!

A few facts about the beauty/brain connection
Fact: Brain and skin are made up of the same type of tissue.

Fact: Anything we do that helps our brain…will help our skin.

Fact: The skin is the largest organ of the body.

Fact: The brain is the most important organ of the body.

Fact: Poor lifestyle and diet, ongoing stress, smoking and environmental pollutants all damage fragile brain cells and damage our skin cells causing wrinkles and pre-mature aging.

Fact: People who abuse their bodies through poor diet and lifestyle can experience mental fall-off as early as their 30's including mood swings and depression.

Solution:
Nourish your brain and enhance your beauty with the powerful Ultimate Omegas!

Younger inside & out
Because brain cells are largely composed of fat, the right kinds of fat in the diet are one of the most critical elements in creating and maintaining brain health. The skin (your largest organ of your body) requires the exact same nutrients to stay young or even reverse the signs of aging. The Omega-3 fatty acids are the single most important nutrient that feeds our brain and skin!

Many compelling studies are revealing that omega 3 supplementation decreases aggressive behavior, diminishes depression, protects against Alzheimer’s disease and fosters mental clarity. Just imagine your brain as healthy, well nourished and firing on all eight cylinders as opposed to undernourished like a car in bad need of tune up and needing a jumpstart to perform simple tasks. (That jumpstart would be coffee and sugar, perhaps?)

The same goes for your skin. With good omega 3 nutrition, it’s healthy and well nourished. Each cell is plumped up like a ripe grape; smooth and firm instead of a shriveled up like a raisin. We can spend a fortune on creams and makeup, but nothing takes the place of skin care from the inside out!

So are you motivated to make the brain/beauty connection? Pick up some salmon and walnuts today at the store, invest in a quality omega 3 supplement and you’ll be looking, thinking and feeling your best!

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