Tos Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Hi folks, newbie here. Heard about Whole30 less than a week ago and I'm already sold. Haven't started 100% yet since I'm too cheap to toss out my whole pantry in one fell swoop, but in the interim I have a question. I hadn't known about the importance of keeping Omega3 and Omega6 in balance until just a month or two ago, and in fact that is what led me to Whole30 since your forums came up in multiple google searches. I spent the last month or so experimenting with a mostly vegetarian diet plus a lot of fish, and got my Omega6:3 ratio down to nearly 1:1. I noticed some improvement in my inflammation issues but hadn't resolved the problem by any means, which led me to look deeper into Whole30. However, here's my question. For the Whole30 meals I've tried thus far, the Omega6:3 ratio is off the charts. Today, for example, eggs for breakfast, salad for lunch, chicken, avocado and mixed greens with tahini dressing for dinner. 15:1 ratio (the cronometer website is great for omega values if you're curious). I probably could have gotten it down to within reason by having fish with my lunch but I'm not quite used to the idea of consuming quite so much meat in a day. More veggies would have been better but the Omega3 in say broccoli (0.03g) is so tiny compared to the Omega6 in say chicken (2.0g) that it feels a little like trying to unsalt the ocean by pouring in fresh water. Anyway, the gist of my question is: is this anything I need to even be paying attention to? Is the Omega6 in chicken, avocado and tahini somehow different than what is in junk food, or even what's in the cashews I used to pop all day like candy (and regret later)? Obviously my inflammation could be related to gluten or sugar or some of the other main targets of Whole30, which is why I'm trying it, but I am curious about the Omega6:3 question. Look forward to hearing what you have to say on this, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ShannonM816 Posted July 28, 2018 Moderators Share Posted July 28, 2018 Have you seen this article: https://www.marksdailyapple.com/why-the-omega-3omega-6-ratio-may-not-matter-after-all/? It seems like a pretty balanced take on things. In general, if whole30 is a pretty big change from how you ate before, you will probably see benefits even if your ratios are not ideal. Rather than concentrate on those numbers, work on following the meal template and choosing the healthiest foods you can and see what happens. If at that point you feel like it could be even better, then maybe pay more attention to the omega-3 to omega-6 ratios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tos Posted July 28, 2018 Author Share Posted July 28, 2018 Wow this article has about everything I could want to know about this subject, thanks!! Mainly it tells me my intuition was correct (i.e., some Omega6's are worse than others, namely the processed/fried kind, and as long as I'm getting enough Omega3 and eating Whole30 don't worry so much about Omega6) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.