Diabetes Diet

Whether people with diabetes need bigger brains that other people is something that science hasn’t studied yet. But some scientists who have studied our early ancestors have just discovered that we got our big brains originally from a diet that came in large part from fish and other aquatic animals.

Until now, most of the scientists who study our early ancestors assumed that they lived on the plains of East Africa. This “savannah theory” seemed to point at a diet of roots, seeds and nuts, some green plants and the occasional small game — the hunter-gatherer hypothesis. This is pretty far from the oceans where fish live.

But fish also live in lakes and streams. And now we know that some of our earliest ancestors about 1.95 million years ago lived around such a wet environment. Archeologists working in northern Kenya found that our ancestors ate a lot of fish, turtles, and crocodiles. By analyzing the bones of the animals and the stone tools that our ancestors made the scientists showed that in fact we descend from a long line of fish-eaters.

Yesterday This Fisherman Caught a Smallmouth Bass — Our Ancestors Caught Prehistoric Bass

The connection between fish and brains is omega-3 oils, which make up about 60 percent of the fatty acids in our brains. And about 2 million years ago our ancestors first developed the big brains that humans have.

We didn’t get their big brains from plants, because our bodies are inefficient in converting plant-based omega-3 into the long-chain omega-3 that our brains need. Only fish, shellfish, algae, and those animals that feed largely on aquatic sources have a lot of omega-3 that our brains can use.

Our mothers told us that fish was brain food. And now we know that they were right in this as in so many other things.

This article is based on an earlier version of my article published by HealthCentral.

Eating fast probably comes naturally to all of us. Hiking a long trail on my vacation in New Zealand a few days ago, I ate as quickly as I could when I stopped, because I wanted to get to the hut before dark.

I ate for the energy that I needed to finish the hike, not for pleasure. For once, I wasn’t concerned about the taste of the food or eating too much of it too fast.

This must have been the way my ancestors and yours ate back in the days when they went out on the hunt or to gather roots and berries. This comes naturally to human beings.

But nowadays we have much more food much more readily available. Normally we don’t have to be concerned about getting enough energy to get to our destination. We have the pick of the most tasty food from around the world. We eat for pleasure much more than for sheer energy.

With a different goal we need a different eating strategy. Specifically, we need to slow down so we won’t overeat. As a bonus, slowing the speed with which we consume our meals giaves us more time to savor them.

Eating slowly has been one of the hardest eating lessons that I have had to learn.  Not until I admitted to a friend that I always eat too fast have I been able to control my eating speed. My acknowledgement to another person was the key to controlling my behavior.

We have to fully accept the truth of our existing state before we can expect to progress or to heal.  Recognizing and admitting our own problem is the necessary first step towards change. This is perhaps because the light of awareness or acceptance or humility is in itself a healing.  If we are forever in denial about where we are stuck, we will continue to overlook the keys that are out there that can set us free.

Once I fully accepted that I ate too fast, I adopted some specific strategies. I had always told myself that I ate fast just because I didn’t want my hot food to get cold. So I started with food that we normally eat at room temperature, like a salad.

Then I consciously told myself to put down the fork or spoon between bites. Now I completely chew what was in my mouth before picking it up again.

While chewing, I don’t do anything else except concentrate on the wonderful food that I am eating. Now, I really taste my food.

Eating more slowly means for me that I don’t eat as much as I did before. This is because of the fact that was long well known to me that our bodies and brains need some time, like about a quarter of an hour, to register that we are full.

The great food that we get now can be so much better and so much easier to obtain then what our hunter-gatherer ancestors were able to eat. We owe it to ourselves to savor it.

This article is based on an earlier version of my article published by HealthCentral.

The best way for us to boost the amount of omega-3 fats in our diet might be to come to New Zealand. This country must have the largest offering of fish in the world.

This month I am vacationing on the country’s South Island and have been feasting on all sorts of fish. I know that many people don’t love fish as much as I do. But even those who aren’t particularly found of them will certainly find some varieties and different preparations to suit their taste buds.

Those of us who have diabetes really need the benefits to our heart health that regularly eating fish provide. Everyone’s hearts are healthier when we consume high levels of the long-chain omega-3 fats that cold-water fish in particuar have.

Of course, coming to New Zealand isn’t the only way to increase our omega-3 consumption. In fact, eating fish isn’t the only way either. For starters, we don’t actually have to limit ourself to cold-water fish, even though these fish have the most omega-3.

Take a quick look through the KIM-2 database, which I have written about earlier in this series of articles on achieving a good balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats. These two types of polyunsaturated fats compete in our bodies. High levels of omega-3 fats are anti-inflammatory, while high levels of omega-6 fats are pro-inflammatory.

The KIM-2 database does show that the cold-water fish like salmon and sardines have extraordinarily good ratios of omega-3 to omega-6 fats. But it also doesn’t show ANY fish with more omega-6 than omega-3. That’s one reason why I am eating fish with Maori names that I have never heard of and which don’t appear in the KIM-2 database.

And it’s not just fish where we can get our long-chain omega-3s. The world also has a great variety of seafood that is high in omega-3.

Beyond fish and seafood we have fish oil or krill oil to supplement our omega-3 level. These supplements come in either liquid or capsule form. Some people who don’t like the taste of the liquid do very well with capsules.

But what about the dilemma that vegetarians and vegans face? Even this is not a problem. Think for a moment where fish and seafood find the ultimate source of their omega-3 fats. That source is the lowest on the food chain, a plant called algae.

We can skip the intermediate links in the chain and go ourselves directly to the source. Several companies now offer long-chain omega-3 fats in vegan algae.

Those capsules aren’t cheap. On the other hand coming to New Zealand to eat fish isn’t either.

P.S: I originally wrote this article for HealthCentral.com on March 11, 2010. I am now back in the U.S. after vacationing in New Zealand. You can read about the trip here: http://www.mendosa.com/fitnessblog/?cat=17

This article is based on an earlier version of my article published by HealthCentral.