But look a little closer, and the diet is missing an essential nutrient: omega-6. If you eat the Standard American Diet (red meat, dairy, processed foods and everything doused in corn and soy oil), you’ll be getting a bucket full of omega-6. If you don’t eat the Standard American Diet, then you’re probably getting plenty of omega-3s and not enough omega-6. In fact, if you’re eating wild salmon four times a week, tossing flaxseed oil into your smoothie, adding chia seeds to your salads, snacking on walnuts and taking a fish oil or flax oil supplement, then it’s quite possible you’re omega-3 dominant. Ten years ago, before everything was omega-3 enhanced, we nutrition students ran our fatty acid profile. To our surprise (but not our professor’s), we were omega-3 dominant. It was a great experiment in the concept “just because something is good for you, doesn’t mean that more is better.” While being omega-3 dominant is not harmful, it will change the fluidity of the cell membranes and make the cells less responsive. You may have PMS, allergies, a suppressed immune system and a lowered libido. (And you may be frustrated, too. Aren’t omega-3’s supposed to help this?) The good news is, it’s an easy fix. The best dietary source of omega-6 is hemp seed. Hemp seeds contain gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), the active omega-6 form. Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and raw nuts also contain omega-6, but in the inactive, linoleic acid (LA), form. To convert this to the anti-inflammatory GLA, you’ll need a sufficient amount of Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, zinc and magnesium. Alcohol, NSAIDS and stress all interfere with this conversion process and will limit the benefit you receive from the raw nuts and seeds. To optimize your fatty acid balance, simply follow the below advice: James created the “How to Ditch Sugar” video series for mindbodygreen. Check out the program here: How to Ditch Sugar. James coaches one on one, runs workshops in NYC and LA, and holds tele-seminars on various topics that help women lead a more beautiful and balanced life. To connect more with James, check out her Instagram account and sign up for her biweekly Sunday-evening emails.
