Health benefits of Omega-3 fatty acid (linolenic acid)

It's been weeks now that I keep talking about fish, seafood and a pescetarian diet.
Many fish such as salmon, tuna, sardines etc are high in the essential fatty acid omega-3. but Omega-3 fats can be found in other foods as well. (See below)
Most Americans are deficient in omega-3 due to the high consumption of over processed food! Consequently, their health is more likely to miss the benefits of those superb fatty acids while other nations with a diet high in Omega-3, clearly reap some remarkable benefits!

I read somewhere recently that in the 1970s a study was done on the Inuit ( Eskimos) of Greenland and scientist discovered that they were the healthiest people in the world. They attributed their great health to their diet that's very high in fat from eating whale,salmon and seal. They also had fewer health problem than other Europeans. So the scientists' conclusion was that Omega-3 was the determining factor in the Inuit people's superior health.  They barely suffered from coronary heart disease, arthritis, diabetes etc.


 I also read that people in Iceland were reported ( in the 1970s), to have the longest life expectancy, the lowest infant mortality rate in the world. In addition to that they have fewer problems with heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure.  All those benefits thanks to Omega 3- fish oils.

Since I personally believe that nature offers us the best prevention and the best medicines from sickness and disease, I have disciplined myself in the past years to take advantage of nature's gifts.
As those studies cited above show,  Omega-3 fats are the good fats our body need and they have the incredible power to prevent us from many illnesses and keep us in great health.
Below, I am sharing a list of benefits from consuming Omega 3 fats and then sharing ways to add more to your diet. It's easy to do. Just increasing your intake to at least twice a week should allow you to take advantage of this natural gift to you.


First of all there are conditions that show a deficiency in Omega-3 fats. So you need more Omega-3 facts if you suffer from:

• Depression
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Fatigue
• Dry, itchy skin
• Brittle hair and nails
• Inability to concentrate
• Joint pain

Omega-3 fats are benefiting to our health because they help promote:

• Joints health and mobility
• Healthier Skin and complexion
• A stronger Immune system
• Visual function
• The ability to breathe
• Positive Behavior in children
• Function of the nervous system
• Spatial function and spatial memory
• Cellular communication
• Weight maintenance as they reduce the risk of becoming obese and improve the body's ability to respond to insulin by stimulating the secretion of leptin. Leptin is an hormone that helps regulate food intake, body weight and metabolism. 

Omega -3 fats also help :

• Reduce inflammation throughout your body
• Keep your blood from clotting excessively
• Maintain the fluidity of your cell membranes
• Lower the amount of lipids (fats such as cholesterol and triglycerides) circulating in the bloodstream.

Well, I think this is enough for some of the benefits of Omega 3 fats, we could go on and on and be very technical but it will be well beyond the scope of this post.


Now that I mentioned how those good fats benefit you, here are ways to add it to your diet. Some of you probably do it with full awareness of those benefits, some of you might not know that some of the food you have been consuming have been so good to your body and some of you might be having a wake up call!
 So as you go grocery shopping here are some things to look for:

•  Salmon

Rainbow trout!

• Bluefin tuna mackerel, herring, and rainbow trout 

• Anchovies and sardines. Little warning as they tend to be hingh in sodium  

• Crustaceans such as Shrimp, mollusks, and Alaskan king crab are also excellent sources Oils. Like flaxseed oil  and olive oil.
• Nuts and seeds such as pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, Brazil nuts, walnuts and flaxseed
• Flaxseed oil is reported to have the highest content of linolenic acid
• Winter squash

• Beans. Some beans are better than others so look for pinto, kidney and mungo beans.
• Papaya. Probably the only fruit  with more omega 3 than omega 6.
• And last but no least spinach, broccoli and cauliflower

My top  favorite ways of adding omega 3 fats to my diet is with flaxseed and of course salmon.

I add flaxseed daily to my diet by adding some to my plain vanilla yogurt or to every one of my homemade smoothies!

If you are familiar with my previous posts you must know by now that my favorite way to add Omega 3 fats to my diet is dining in my favorite restaurants  J. Alexander's restaurant and F2O.  This past Sunday  I decided to do an 'autopsy' on my salmon sandwich because I was curious to know what made it so good, beyond the obvious.

Showing you what's left of this delicious sandwich before it disappeared in my hungry tummy

                                Now, doesn't it look yummy?! It's not just yummy, it's healthy!


So this is my favorite way of adding omega-3 to my diet! What about you? What's your favorite source of Omega-3? Do you see ways you could add more to your diet? Have you ever suffered from a deficiency of omega-3 fats? Which one of the conditions listed above (of deficiency) were more apparent in your life?

Good eat: Great fish dinners when dining out @ J.Alexander's restaurants

If you have visited this blog before you might be aware of  the fact that my diet is predominantly pescetarian . I eat other kind of meat but I have a preference for Salmon and other kinds of fish. A few weeks ago I interviewed Kayla and asked her if it was easy to eat out with a pescetarian diet.
I found that it is indeed very easy to find healthy food when eating out.
This week-end, like most week-end, I ate at my favorite establishments.

J.Alexander's restaurant had been my favorite restaurant since the day my husband and I relocated here. The staff there is more like family to us and we are always offered the best hospitality one can ask for.
The picture below is the Fish tacos. It comes with 3 tacos filled with Cole slaw, topped with fresh avocados. It comes with a spicy mayonnaise, a side a beans and a side of delicioooouuuus rice! This is the best rice I had! The flavor...hummm just squeeze some lime on top and your palate will be soooo grateful!!!

Since I can't eat all that, I generally eat 1 of the 3 tacos and the side of rice and my hubby eat the beans and other tacos. For $15 dollars you get a very tasty meal that you can split! 
I must mention that they offer good freshly baked croissants  as you wait for your meal and the foccacio bread available with  or without melted cheese can easily fill you up before you even get to your meal. So J.Alexander is my Friday or Saturday spot.  We used to go there every Sundays as well, but since we started eating at F2O 4 weeks ago we have decided to make F2O ," Fresh 2 Order" our  new Sunday spot.

Below is a picture of my typical Sunday's lunch at F2O. I bragged about their Salmon sandwich in one of my previous post. On Sunday Kids eat free at F2O so it's always packed there and finding a seat there on a Sunday is almost like looking for the best seat at a concert and for very good reasons.

The kids 's meals are very nutritious, they offer quite a diverse selection and their mashed potatoes is the most delicious I ever had in a public establishment! In spite of the fact that it gets crazy in there on Sundays, my hubby and I are now faithful patrons because a couple of the guys working there have succeed to make us feel at home. They work hard on getting us a table as soon as they notice our presence and this too me is special! To top it all they always have so smily faces and are full of energy. Who doesn't love great customer's services?! Well, the right place and service make the food yummier (smiles) !!!

Food is a love affair for me. I enjoy the hospitality and the service I receive when I eat out. I love to cook but I also love to be served. Since I take care of my family by homeschooling and the other responsibilities that come with the territory of being a mom and a wife, I greatly enjoy eating out at those places on the week-end. 

Obviously I love to eat and it's great to be able to eat healthy food, on a reasonable budget and in a very pleasant and loving atmosphere.

What about you? What's your favorite healthy food and restaurant?

N'na

Delicious Tuna Croquettes recipe inspired by the Queen of Soul Food!

A few nights ago I decided to surprise my hubby with one of his favorite food. I figured I will share the recipe with you because it's really easy and would make a great appetizer or great snack for the week-end or any week night when you just want something delicious and quick.
The recipe below is originally from Evelyn Woods, sister-in-law of Sylvia Woods owner of the world famous restaurant Sylvia's restaurant in Historic Harlem! I have never had the pleasure of eating there but since I have had her book "Sylvia's Family Soul Food Cookbook" for over 5 years now, I have had the pleasure of eating some delicious meals inspired by her cookbook!


 I say inspired here because I have the habit of always adding my own ingredients to a recipe. I can never stay true to the ingredients suggested when I am cooking an American dish. Having been raised with French and International Food, my palate is pretty obstinate and always after delicious flavors. For example, if a cake recipe did not call for flavoring like cinnamon, vanilla extract or nutmeg you can count on me to add one of those or lemon zest to the recipe. I even twist a simple waffle recipe to taste like a delightfully perfumed little treat! I love adding unexpected flavors to my cakes and dishes so below I will just share her original recipe and add pictures I took 3 evenings ago when I was fixing those croquettes. Even though I don't like frying, this recipe is certainly worth it.

Ingredients for Tuna croquettes by Evelyn Woods
Two 6 ounces cans tuna, drained
2 eggs
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped bell pepper
3 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ginger teriyaki sauce ( or 1 teaspoon soy sauce plus a pinch of ground ginger)
1/8teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8teaspoon salt
2to3tablespoons vegetable oil

 1. In a medium bowl combine all the ingredients (except the oil)! Well in the book she explained step 1 by listing all the ingredients one by one come on! If you read the ingredients it's obvious that you keep the oil for frying and mix everything else.

2. In the author's words: "In a large skillet , heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium -high heat until the oil bubbles when a little bit of the tuna mixture is tossed in. Drop the tuna mixture by soup spoonful into the oil to make patties about 3 inches in diameter. Fry until browned on the bottom, for 1 to 2 minutes. Turn and fry until browned on the other side, for 1-2 minutes more. Drain on paper towels. Continue until all patties are cooked,adding more oil to the pan if necessary." ( Sylvia's family Soul Food Cookbook p.159)

I use a measuring cup or soup spoon to place each patties in the oil and I do put much more than 2 tablespoons of oil . I use my wok constantly so I do not use a skillet. I generally fill my wok  1/3 of the way for all my frying, which I do rarely because I really do not like frying food. I don't  like the smell of fried food and I especially do not like to deal with left over oil. I never re-use the same oil because it's unhealthy  and I discard my oil by pouring it in clear jar that I seal with a lid and wrap in an old grocery bag before placing it in the trash can.  In college I was taught in my environmental sciences classes that pouring oil in the toilet, the drain or the backyard like some people do, it not healthy at all for the environment! I don't buy jars for that, I simply save empty jars from pasta sauce or jams and re-use them as needed! Well that was a little GREEN lesson here! (smiles)

Soooo back to the recipe, I did not use ground red peppers in mine. I did use ginger and soy sauce instead of the ginger teriyaki sauce and I used more ginger than suggested in the recipe. I don't care to measure my onion and bell pepper. So I just used what I had left over from the lunch I had fixed earlier that day. I actually had sardines for lunch and had used onions and green pepper with some seasoning and apple cider vinegar to make a small fresh sauce for my sardines.
In fixing the tuna croquettes I prefer to use olive oil. I also added some garlic to the recipe. I would have preferred fresh ones but had used it all for my lunch so I made due with garlic powder.The recipe in the book did not suggest adding any so that's just me playing with flavors here. I also added cayenne pepper, some red Cajun spices that I got from the Dekalb farmer's market in Atlanta,GA and I added some fresh chili peppers that were left from my lunch. So as you see I added a few ingredients that the original recipe in the book did not call for. I call my version my Cajun tuna croquettes considering all the 'heat' I added!
But the croquettes did not taste that spicy just very juicy and tasteful. Said with all modesty right?lol. I did not drain my tuna unlike what she suggested. My tuna had vegetable oil and I figure I will pour the whole thing in my mixture to moisten it.

Mixture for tuna croquettes

Now, if you are watching your weight your probably should not imitate me on that! Remember I mainly fixed those for my husband and he barely has any extra body fat. He is all lean muscles so he can afford eating like this once in a while. I can too...while I do the quality control that is!!! Quality control a.k.a. snacking while cooking!!! (lol)

 But I left the rest to him! The picture above shows the plate I fixed for my hubby.  He was delighted when I presented this plate to him as soon as he stepped into the kitchen upon returning from work. I heard many " Humm this is real good" " Man this is goooodd" the whole time he was eating them. In the meantine all I ate for dinner was what you see on the picture below, after saving some for  my lunch for the day after.  Well, yes that was my only serving...considering that by the time all was said and done I did not have much appetite left due to my diligent quality control while cooking... Yessss, I snacked on quite a few of those while I was cooking them! (Making a guilty grin)

So you see that I did indeed add my little twists to the original recipe. I am sure a lot of people are like me! A cookbook is mainly for inspiration and guidance after all! Don't you think?! I like to own what I cook so I can't help twisting a recipe. I stay true to the ingredients only to some extent! When it comes to flavoring a sauce,a cake or a any dish I stay true to my well trained French palate! (smiles)

 The author explained in the book that the recipe was actually intended for salmon cakes but that day they ran out of salmon and all they had left was tuna. So if you don't have tuna or don't like tuna you can simply use some salmon and you will be gooood to go!!! (smiles).

I hope you will get the chance to try this recipe and indulge! This is truly an easy recipe worth sharing! I got home from my morning walk and decided to take some time to share this recipe and my adaptation with you. If you can try it let me know how yours turned out. For the fun of it you could cook both the original version of Miss Wood and my own "Cajun" adaptation and tell me which you like the most. Every one's taste is different so that would be a tasty experiment!

Before I leave I will also share with you a picture of some branches I cut this morning. It has nothing to do with cooking but it will have a lot to do with eating my meals while enjoying the charms of flowering shrubs.  One neighbor allowed me to cut it from her yard when I asked her this morning. It's so exciting to see Spring coming back. Each morning as I was passing by my neighbor's home this week, I kept thinking about how lovely those would be as floral arrangements. So glad I got the opportunity to get some today.

Branches cut during my morning walk from some flowering shrubs in a kind neighbor's front yard!

 On my pescetarian menu this week-end are Fish tacos at J.Alexander's restaurant tonight or tomorrow, Salmon fish sandwich at F2O on Sunday and I will probably fix more of those tuna croquettes for my hubby sometimes this week-end.  Please remember to use a towel to soak some of the oil off of your food every time you fry.
Here are some pictures of Sylvia's restaurant that I just found online:
           I find her life's story to be very inspiring, not just her cookbook.  Hope to get the pleasure of visiting her establishment one day mainly for her red velvet cake! I personally don't care much for " Soul Food" . I initially got the book for cultural reasons as I was curious to educate myself more on the dishes that are so popular with " Soul Food's Lovers". I fell more in love with her personal story than I did with 'Sould Food' itself.  I greatly appreciate her values and the ones she inculcated her children. Another recipe from her cookbook that I used to fix a lot was her chicken soup. I had also adapted it to my taste but it has enough ingredients in it to keep me from being too creative. Cooking that soup is a true labor of love. Should I cook it again I will make sure to share some pictures with you.

I was wondering...What place would you recommend for tuna or salmon /crab cakes? I ate a few years ago at a restaurant in Saint Louis Missouri which I believe was called the Fish Market. I felt in love with their salmon cakes, so so good!!!Too bad  it's now closed! Do you have a salmon/tuna cake recipe worth trying or a restaurant that you would recommend for their salmon or crab cakes? Who is the best salmon/crab cakes cook that you know? Anything that makes their recipe stand out? When was the last time you enjoyed some delicious yummy salmon/crab cakes? Has any of you eaten before at Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem? How is it?



N'na

Why eat salmon?! A little introduction to the benefits of Salmon and roles of some vitamins

1. 

Salmon is one of the most nutritious and delicious food on the planet and it seems that some people who don't even like fish would admit to liking Salmon. It's available fresh, frozen, smoked or canned. It's loaded with beneficial properties as it  has lots of vitamin D,selenium, B vitamins like Niacin,  vitamins B6 and B12, magnesium, as well as the prized Omega-3 fats.
Well you just read that and might still asked yourself: " Well, so?!!! What's the big deal if I don't eat salmon?! "  Well I think that sometimes when we know that things are good for us, we might not eat them because we don't fully realize what exactly they do for us. So I wanted to explain a few of  the benefits of some of those vitamins and minerals that are available in salmon so that when you hear about those vitamins/minerals available in salmon or in other food you might ( I hope) be more motivated to add them to your diet.

Selenium plays an important role in the prevention of generative disease such as cancer, inflammatory diseases, neurological diseases, cardiovascular diseases, infections and aging.
Vitamin D's major role is to maintain normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus. Vitamin D aids in the absorption of calcium, helping to form and maintain strong bones. Recently, research also suggests vitamin D may provide protection from osteoporosis, hypertension (high blood pressure), cancer, and several autoimmune diseases.
 Magnesium's benefits are many and include solving or preventing osteoporosis, heart attacks, hypertension, constipation, migraines, leg cramps, kidney stones, gallstones and more. I have heard before that if someone wanted to never be constipated again they should add some magnesium to their diet!


Delectable grilled salmon sandwich with guacamole and much flavors that make you go crazy and...ease stress...lol

     Nota Bene: Just for the record , I did not eat those chips !!! That was my hubby's tray and I had water with my order! The proof is on a picture below! ha ha! My order that day came with a corn chowder soup! Vitamins B or not you will be greatly happy after eating that sandwich. Went with friends last Sunday, I ordered the same sandwich and a salad this time and the friend who took on my recommandations to try the sandwich was all "Hummm this is gooood Hmmmm.." in a delighted Cuban accent! He was so happy!!!!

B Vitamins are mood boosting vitamins and can ease stress, treat anxiety and depression, aid memory, relieve PMS and reduce heart disease risk.

Niacin is actually vitamin B3. It greatly helps with the reducing and controlling high cholesterol levels  and is also known to benefits our bodies in maintaining a healthy skin condition and good blood circulation.  Niacin helps in maintaining good brain function, it boots memory power and it also can aid the digestive tract to absorb sufficient carbohydrates,fats and proteins.

Vitamin B6 also known as pyridoxine, helps brain function and helps the body convert protein to energy. It works with Folic acid and vitamin B12.

Vitamin B12 is often called the "energy vitamin" of the Bvitamins as some athletes or people with low energy often talk of needing a B12 injection.  Apparently clinicians use B12 injections to assist people  with low energy level and to support their nervous system.  B12 injections is more common among people suffering from pernicious anemia as their body can't absorb it from dairy products or other foods.
Please watch the video:

B12  might also be important in the production of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin. B12 can even be associated with weight loss due the fact that it increases our energy and metabolism when consumed daily.The vitamin B12 is actually called cyanocobalamin or just cobalamin because it contains the metal ion cobalt. B12 can help keep your mind, heart and nerves healthy! Your body needs this vitamin to make blood cells and maintain a healthy nervous system. B12 also helps with the synthesis of both fatty and amino acids.

Well, this is just a little introduction. Vitamins and minerals both work so mysteriously in term of their beautiful role and efficiency in our bodies and salmon is "loaded". I think that in knowing some of the major benefits of those vitamins and minerals it become more clear as to why/how eating some salmon (preferably wild salmon) at least twice a week could be so important to our health.

Delicious grilled salmon sandwich, a bowl of soup and a bottle of water! You can eat healthy and still be happy!(lol)

I don't know if it's the B vitamins in the salmon that boost my mood but I am always happy eating that sandwich! The truth is I love good food so just smelling a dish and thinking of the flavors will boost my mood!

You might have noticed that I did not mention the benefits of Omega-3! That's because I plan on talking more about them in one of my upcoming post next week!So make sure you come back!

In the meantime I am curious to learn a few things from you: Do you take any of those vitamins/minerals above as supplements? Do you suffer from any condition due to the deficiency of those vitamins? Do you have a diet/lifestyle that offer many of those vitamins and minerals? What's your preferred source of Bvitamins, vitamin D and magnesium?


N'na