Use caution before you begin to use herbs. Always make sure your doctor knows exactly which herbs you are thinking of taking and why. Also do not ever substitute an herb for a prescription given to you by a doctor. Children, pregnant women and those with chronic medical conditions should be very careful and should also make sure to consult their physician before using herbs. Dont “double up” with herbs and pharmaceuticals. Dont take a pharmaceutical and a herb that are supposed to do the same thing. Make sure that you understand any side effects the herb you are taking may have and any adverse reactions to other herbs or drugs prescribed to you.

Most herbalist concur that there are 8-10 different herbs that are essential in your well being. First is garlic. Garlic has long been known to be good for your heart by lowering cholesterol, but did you know that garlic has been shown in some studies to prevent cancer? In an Iowa Women’s Health Study, it was found that out of 41,000 women, those that ate the most garlic had the lowest risk of colon cancer. Herbal and traditional teas have also been shown to help prevent cancer and heart disease. Black and green teas are both high in antioxidants, natural cancer and heart disease fighters.

Most people have been advised by their elders or friends to drink cranberry juice at the first signs of a bladder infection. But did you know that it is scientifically proven that cranberry does reduce the number of urinary tract infections over time. Cranberry can be found in juice form, capsules or even dried.

Gingko is another well known herb that is healthy. It increases blood circulation through the brain and may slow the effects of Alzheimer’s. Adults are usually advised by herbalists to take gingko to help enhance their memory.

Echinacea is also a long prescribed herb for the treatment of the common cold. Although some studies show no effects, there are many studies that show that echinacea reduces the symptoms experienced during a cold and sometimes even reduce the duration of suffering.

Did you know there is even an herb that can boost mood like the pharmaceuticals Prozac or Zoloft? Some studies have shown that people taking St. John’s Wort showed an elevated mood after only 12 weeks, and with fewer side effects than the pharmaceuticals.

Ginger has been a leading herb for the reduction of motion sickness and as a digestion aid. You don’t think those pieces of ginger are included on that plate of sushi as just a decoration do you? Ginger ale and ginger tea can also be used to provide relief.

All of the above herbs can be grown easily in almost any climate and location. And most are beautiful flowering shrubs or plants. So do some research and use a piece of your existing garden to plant some  medicinal herbs for natural healing or even in pots along your windowsill.

Note: Always consult your medical doctor before using anything mentioned above.

References

“Garlic and Cancer Prevention.” National Cancer Institute, 22 Jan. 2008. Web. 05 Sept. 2011. <http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/prevention/garlic-and-cancer-prevention>.

I’m going to go out on an editorial limb and say that humans are neck deep in industry, media, and as the somber Malthusians argue, population. We’re at ends with our environment because too many people need too many things, and Earth’s resources are becoming less accessible. So what can we do to secure a healthy environment for the future?

This reporter has no idea really, but I do know a pretty popular philosophy worth looking into, one that started beneath a bodhi tree over twenty-five hundred years ago – Buddhism.

This article gets into basic Buddhist principles, such pratītyasamutpāda and the Four Noble Truths, as well as ideas concerning the Yogachara school, the sangha, and karma. We’ll see how these ideas relate to environmentalism, and environmental protection.

Let’s start with Pratītyasamutpāda, a mouthful for most of us, and a concept that highlights the idea of no-self and cause-and-effect. The concept stresses that nothing arises independently or without affecting something else.

In the field of environmental studies, there’s a similar concept called environmental unification. In practice it’s pretty simple. For example, the construction of freeways in Los Angeles might contribute to the endangerment of the Channel Island Fox. This actually happened, but the story was more complex, involving golden eagles, bald eagles, feral pigs, and DDT. Essentially habitat displacement caused by DDT and urban sprawl in Los Angeles sparked the near extinction of the Island Fox on the Channel Islands. Due to species relocation, the fox species has since made nearly a full recovery.

From a Buddhist prospective, no-self, also called anatman, means there is no individual Island Fox or Los Angeles Freeway system, because the two things are the same.

Now, the Malthusians who argue that population is a primary contributor towards environmental harm, have ideas that don’t fall too far from this Buddhist prospective,  because “many things that people regard as private individual choices, especially regarding whether or how many children to bear, actually are not private matters because of their profound implications for all sentient beings,” said Buddhist scholar Rita Gross in Visions of a New Earth: Religious Perspectives on Population, Consumption, and Ecology.

Since Buddhists don’t believe the idea of a “self”, the value of making and buying products (key contributors towards environmental degradation) are abandoned as well. Buddhist ideology “contains denunciations of personal, corporate, and national greed concerning consumable goods as such greed damages the interdependent ecosystem,” said Gross.

Let’s get off this “self” stuff for a second though, and move on to the first two of the Four Noble Truths and their significance towards a Buddhist-environmental understanding: the first noble truth states that suffering exists. The second noble truth states suffering exists due to attachment or craving (tanha), grounded in ignorance. “Most people think happiness results from getting what we crave, whereas Buddhists would say that happiness happens when tanha is renounced,” Gross said. “Thus craving and happiness are incompatible.”

The Yogachara School, a school within Mahayana Buddhism, also known as the “mind only” school, emphasizes achieving trancelike meditative states to attain Samadhi, a state when subject and object fuse together.

“If everything is in our mind, our toys become less real to us; less appealing,” said Alyson Prude, Religious Studies professor at University of California Santa Barbara.

During her PhD. research, Prude visited a small Yogichara village and saw a few thousand residents living in shacks a few feet away from another, with no waste management system.

“Why would anyone choose to live in such filth?” She asked.

She found her answer with a spiritual leader from the village, who said the residents were happy, unaware of the “filthy” condition.

Perception of the world is more important than the normal associates one makes about the world, he said.

But I don’t think all Buddhists are as content with a filthy environment, and some might note that the environment needs to be in a condition where the cultivation of the mind is a possibility. Someone in Tuvale, for example, might have a harder time reaching enlightenment if the only places left to meditate are under water.

Some Buddhists like Phra Prachak, a Theradava Buddhist monk from Thailand, take a more conservationist approach, by ordaining tress into Buddhist monks, to stop loggers from deforestation. To some people, including Prachak, the Sangha, or holy Buddhist community, includes “other species, plant and animal, as well as environmental features and unseen ancestors and spirits.” To them, the environment is a direct extension of the Sangha, and is worth protecting.

Along the same line of thought, the environment can be understood through a karmic prospective. Buddhists believe in six types of rebirth – God, Demigod, Human, Animal, Ghost and Hell, and Gross writes that “each person has been reborn so many myriad times that each being has at one time or another been a blood relation”. So in essence, we are our environment, and we wouldn’t sever our own limbs right?

It’s clear from a scientific and Buddhist prospective that the environment should be protected. One of the easiest ways to protect the environment is to limit production, consumption, and population. Some Buddhists might encourage people to understand they are apart of a collective spirit, known as pratītyasamutpāda, and are responsible and dependent on another. There is no self or I, so consumption targeted at inflating one’s ego will only perpetuate one’s time in samsara – the cycle of suffering and rebirth. If people understand happiness through a Buddhist perception, that acquiring things will not bring happiness but the cessation of craving will, then consumption will deflate to a natural level reflective of our population’s basic needs. Protecting the environment is ultimately a choice, but if the decision ever gets too tough, remember to ask, “What would Buddha do?”

References:

University Of Texas, Austin (2002, January 10). Extinction Rate Across The Globe Reaches Historical Proportions. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 25, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2002/01/020109074801.htm

Weisner, S. (1993). To Realize Enlightenment. J.C: Cleary.

Gross, R. (2000). Visions of a New Earth: Religious Perspectives on Population, Consumption, and Ecology. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press

Prude, Alyson. “Mahayana Schools.” University of California Santa Barbara. Goleta, CA. 4 Feb. 2010.

Chapple, C. (1993). Nonviolence to Animals, Earth, and Self in Asian Traditions. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press

Komatsu, S. (1991). Buddhism and the World of the Future. Tokyo, JP: The International Institute for Buddhist Studies.

The bill would reform the “Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976” to put it in line with how drugs, food additives, and the water supply are currently regulated. Requiring substances to go through an approval process would prevent such incidents such as the past widespread use of asbestos and lead based paint, and the disastrous health consequences they have caused. In a time when thousands of untested chemicals are used in everyday products, many of which can be found in our bodies, a growing chorus of health experts and industry watchdogs are calling this common sense legislation. The Environmental Working Group has stated, “the effort to protect Americans from chemical dangers took a historic step forward” with the introduction of this bill. Also, the coalition Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, which claims to be 11 million members strong, released a statement of support that can be found here.

Additional aspects of the bill call for a public database of all chemical information including test results, and funding for the development of “green” chemical alternatives. The House version is being introduced by Congressman Bobby Rush (D-IL) and Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA). Furthermore, the bill reportedly has the support of the Obama Administration. The full text of the senate legislation can be found here.

In the mean time, you can reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals by using green cleaning agents from companies such as Seventh Generation and Ecover. Also, cutting down on the use of tupperware, avoiding scratched teflon cookware, eliminating the use of plastics #3, #6, and #7, and finding green alternatives to cosmetics and other sources of chemicals will all help.

Snow covered mountains, rolling hills, and small lakes are endless in sight, as I look off into the horizon. The feeling of independence and peacefulness is indescribable. Pushing off, I peer down the steep slope in front of me as adrenaline runs through my body. I drop into the trail, carving in and out, trying to avoid ice and bumps as I speed down the mountainside. Skiing is my greatest passion in life and it has had a tremendous influence on my wellness and personal growth.

I learned to ski less than two years ago with the help of my father and close friends, all of which were advanced skiers. The sport had always seemed appealing to me and I finally had the chance to learn. However, learning was not as easy as I had thought. My first weeks on the slopes were defined by constant falls, doing “the pizza” down the entire trail, and out of control runs. The difficulty I had with learning was discouraging but I kept trying again, determined to ski like a professional.

Eventually I had caught on and moved past the bunny hill onto the intermediate trails. It was at this point where I began to really develop the passion for skiing I have today. I sharpened my skills by continuous practice and challenging myself to new terrain. In addition, I enrolled in advanced lessons at a local mountain in order to improve my stance, tucking, and carving. I became better after every session and kept moving on to more difficult trails.

Skiing nearly every weekend and vacation during the winter has made it a huge part of who I am. It has allowed me to become more self-confident, as I see my progress and achieve my goals of conquering certain terrain. Learning how to ski was an enormous challenge for me, especially because of my lack of previous athletic experience. However, I took on the challenge and have achieved countless personal feats since. This has taught me that taking on challenges, no matter how difficult they may seem, will lead to amazing accomplishments. Furthermore, skiing has strengthened my appreciation for nature. The true beauty of nature is taken for granted by most, which may be caused by never really experiencing it, the way skiing and other outdoor activities allow for.

Skiing has also had a profound affect on me physically. It has got me in shape by constantly working the leg muscles and provided me with cardiovascular exercise. In my quest to become the best skier I can be, I weight lift in order to be able to ski longer and have more power and stability. Eating a healthy diet is also a key element in training my body. It motivates me to eat better and keep away from the junk foods that will only hurt me in the long run. All of this has led to greater stamina and an overall better feeling body that increases performance on the slopes.

Today, I ski some of the largest mountains in New England and are able to conquer the black diamond trails I once dreamt of. I continue to challenge myself both physically and mentally, which can be seen in my new goal of learning how to race and take part in NASTAR competitions. Skiing has allowed me to grow in many ways and appreciate both nature and the freedom of independence one feels while on the mountain. Through my experiences I have truly developed a life long passion in skiing.

It is a passion such as this one that will profoundly impact your life and it need not even be physically demanding in nature. Of course if it does include physical activity it only heightens the positive effects. Pursuing goals associated with a passion decreases stress and leads to overall better health. It also results in greater satisfaction out of life and steers you towards accomplishing even more challenging goals in your life. So get up and go pursue the things you enjoy and turn them into major parts of your life. It really is easier than it sounds. Or as an alternative, try something completely new, you never know when you will discover something great.

BPA is a widely used chemical in many plastics and can be found in some water bottles, food packaging, and children’s toys. It is a known endocrine disruptor, mimicking hormones when in the body. A number of studies on animals have raised safety concerns due to links to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and reproductive disorders. Additionally, many other human studies have confirmed the presence of BPA in over 90% of test subjects.

Furthermore, Consumer Reports just recently published their tests on canned foods and found high levels of BPA in nearly all products. Eden Organic’s bean products were the only product to contain negligible amounts of the chemical.

References:

Grady, Denise. “In Reversal, U.S. Expresses Concern Over Additive to Plastics.” The New York Times. 15 Jan. 2010. Web. 16 Jan. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/16/health/16plastic.html>.

“Industry reacts to Consumer Reports’ BPA report.” Consumer Reports Electronics Blog. 6 Nov. 2009. Web. 16 Jan. 2010. <http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/2009/11/industry-reacts-to-consumer-reports-report-on-bisphenol-a-bpa.html>.

“Testing for BPA: Concern over canned foods.” Consumer Reports Electronics Blog. 2 Nov. 2009. Web. 16 Jan. 2010. <http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/2009/11/testing-for-bpa-concern-over-canned-foods-.html>.

I recommend organic foods for my weight loss patients because I want them to eat nutrient dense foods, thus you have to begin with the dirt. The overuse of pesticides, herbicides, and other chemical additives for the growth of monoculture genetically modified crops, including corn, soy, rice, canola, and others have wreaked havoc with the soil.

These grain and bean crops grown in this sterile soil are used not only to create overly processed foods, but are the basis for animal feed that is fed to factory farmed meats and farm raised fish. The results are food products with empty calories, unknown long term health effects, and almost certain capacity for making people fat.

Continue Reading at The Huffington Post

Previous research has alluded to phthalates disrupting hormone levels, particularly estrogen and testosterone. A small study suggested that pregnant women expecting a boy, who had high levels of phthalates in their blood, made the newborn more inclined to play with toys associated with girls.

Exposure to phthalates is extremely difficult to avoid as they are found in many plastic products. Shower curtains, food containers, plastic wraps, some children’s toys, building materials, some prescription pill encasings, and adhesives, all contain the chemical. Additionally phthalates are found in many perfumes, hair sprays, liquid soaps and other personal care products.

The study has resulted in calls for additional research to determine the safety of such a commonly used chemical. It is estimated that about one billion pounds of phthalates are produced worldwide each year.

To limit your exposure to phthalates look at ingredient labels of personal care products and avoid anything with an ingredient that ends with the word “phthalate”. Also try finding a phthalate-free shower curtain from a natural market and avoid putting food in plastics whenever possible, especially plastic numbers 3 and 7. Furthermore, try avoiding fragrances that do not state to be phthalate-free.

References:

Doheny, Kathleen. “Phthalates Affect Way Young Boys Play.” WebMD. 16 Nov. 2009. Web. 23 Dec. 2009. <http://children.webmd.com/news/20091116/phthalates-affect-way-young-boys-play>.

Erdem Durmaz, Elif N. Özmert, Pinar Erkekoglu, Belma Giray, Orhan Derman, Filiz Hincal, and Kadriye Yurdakök
Plasma Phthalate Levels in Pubertal Gynecomastia
Pediatrics 2009 : peds.2009-0724v1-peds.2009-0724.

There has been much controversy over the safety of these chemical preservatives, and some studies have conflicting results. However, a general consensus of concern led to the most dangerous of these parabens, methylparaben, being banned in the entire European Union. In America, methylparaben is widely found in cosmetics and is among the most common of preservatives.

Besides parabens, all cosmetics including lotions, deodorants, toothpaste, makeup, shampoos, and soaps, contain many ingredients that most of us have not the slightest idea what they are. A number of those ingredients are unsafe yet commonly used, including phthalates and sodium lauryl sulfate. An easy way to verify whether or not you cosmetics are safe, is to use the Environmental Working Group’s Cometic Safety Database, named Skin Deep. There you can do a quick search of products you use, and find out how they rate on a scale of 0-10 based on safety. There is also a breakdown of individual ingredients with their safety information and links to supporting scientific studies.

It is a good idea to check this database even if you use products that claim to be all-natural. This is because some of those products still have questionable ingredients, the label may just be more marketing than science. Furthermore, any product used on a newborn should be thoroughly checked, as children are more sensitive to chemicals and toxins than adults.

Although these chemicals have been eliminated from the US years ago, they can still be released into the environment from hazardous wastes sites. The chemicals enter the air, water and soil by leaks from transportation, accidental spills, fires and so on. They remain in the environment because they do not break down readily. They can travel long distance in the air and remain stuck to organic particles and bottom sediments in the water, which then later become taken up by small organisms and fish in the water. This causes a huge problem because the PCBs in fish and marine mammals are found to be higher than levels that can be found in the water itself. Therefore, if a human or animal higher on the food chain consumes these fish, the levels of PCBs in their fatty tissue will increase dramatically.

PCBs in seafood have been a huge dilemma all over the world. The EPA has said that contaminated fish are a persistent source of PCBs in the human diet. Fish and other sea life absorb PCBs, which then become built up in their fatty tissues. Humans who eat these fish also build up PCBs in their fatty tissues. John Jane (2003) shared those results from tests of store-bought farmed salmon, showing seven of ten fish were so contaminated with PCBs that they raise risk for cancer. Farmed salmon is an industrial system that produces fish quickly and cheaply. The study proved that farmed salmon are likely the most PCB contaminated protein source in U.S grocery stores. It showed that farmed salmon had up to sixteen times the amount of PCBs found in other seafood. They believed that the salmon had been infected by the fishmeal they were fed, considering it was made up of fish oil that contained contaminated ground-up fish.

Furthermore, the study suggested that if these fish were caught in the wild, the Environmental Protection Agency would constrict consumption to no more than one meal per month. This is because the EPA sets high restrictions and guidance levels for PCBs in wild salmon. However, this will not happen because the EPA does not have the authority to regulate farm-raised fish, only wild caught, and the fish in this study were bought from fish farms. Farm-raised fish falls under the jurisdiction of the FDA, which has lax standards compared to the EPA. The EPA’s restrictions are almost 500 times more protective than the limits that the Food and Drug Administration apply to commercially sold fish.

The major problem is that the FDA has not updated their PCB health limits for commercial seafood since 1984. According to their out dated list, it is okay to eat salmon safely more than once a week. However, now that PCBs have been known to cause cancer and neurodevelopment risks in children, the FDA needs to reconsider reevaluating their limits. People have found salmon imported from Scotland that contained such high levels of PCBs that they would not recommend eating it more than six meals per year. Nowadays, salmon is a popular dish at home and in restaurants. It has been estimated that about 23 million people eat salmon more than once a month and the majority of it is farmed salmon.

In another study in Korea, 26 species of fish were discovered to be contaminated with PCBs.  The main contributors were the mackerel, tuna, and hairtail. Approximately 4,300 tons of PCBs were used in Korea up until the 1990’s. These chemicals have also been banned from Korea just like the U.S and are also still present in coastal environments, contaminating fish and humans. This study suggested that infants less than 2 years old were the most effected. Seafood was then proven to be the major dietary source of PCB carriers.

PCB’s in seafood has been a health issue for many years. Concerns of ingesting many varieties of seafood in restaurants are a major concern.  Some restaurants are already doing something about their seafood in order to serve the best, healthiest fish. Eco-Fish, an environmentally friendly company provides the option for restaurants to purchase healthy toxin free seafood to serve. They also work to help support sustainable fisheries including wild and agricultural and work to reverse the decline of marine bio-diversity by encouraging a shift in consumer demand from over-exploited fisheries. Eco-Fish also works to raise awareness of the threats to the world’s oceans and humans by providing a source of environmentally safe seafood. Eco-Fish claims that, “Seafood Safe is a testing program for mercury and PCBs in seafood, two of the most prevalent contaminants found in seafood today. The label helps inform consumers of how many meals they can consume per month, without exposing themselves to dangerous levels of these contaminants. The recommendation is derived from EPA’s Guidance for Assessing Chemical Contaminant Data for Use in Fish Advisories. To protect those adults that are at highest risk, women of childbearing age, the Seafood Safe label reflects safe consumption levels for this sub-population.” As you can see, Eco-Fish has a method of putting a label on their seafood that tells the consumer what the safe consumption level is of that particular seafood. More seafood companies should use this same method.

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Already restaurants have been choosing Eco-Fish as their supplier for their seafood. Aroma Thyme Bistro located in Ellenville, NY has been a consumer of Eco-Fish’s seafood for years which is one reason why the restaurant is very well off and popular. The seafood they provide is tested for contaminants and they claim that Eco-Fish is the only company that can make these assertions. You may wonder why more restaurants aren’t doing the same thing Aroma Thyme Bistro is. Well, it is very simple. The cost to test seafood is over sixteen hundred dollars just for one test. Although it is very expensive, more chefs and consumers must become more educated in the seafood they are consuming and serving to their customers.

In conclusion, seafood consumption is the main contributor to total dietary intakes of PCBs because they are a major source of proteins and lipids. Studies show that children of mothers who ate fish with large amounts of PCBs had smaller head size, reduced visual recognition and delayed muscle development. A mother’s exposure to PCBs and other chemicals effected child’s birth weight, short-term memory, and learning. Older adults typically 50 and over who ate fish containing PCBs and other contaminants had lower scores on several measures of memory and learning. Studies also show that consumption of PCBs leads to interference of neurodevelopment.

In order to stay healthy one must limit their exposure to PCBs by trimming the fat and skin off of fish prior to cooking or eating. Additionally, Eco-Fish’s guide to testing seafood should be followed when selecting seafood. For good quality the qualities to look for are firm and elastic flesh, scales that are bright and tightly adhered to skin, the belly cavity should have no blood and clean. There should be a nice ocean fresh odor similar to seaweed, clear and bright eyes, and bright red gills free of slime. The poor quality fish would consist of soft flesh separating from the bones, dull scales with many missing, cuts and traces of blood in the belly cavity, putrid ammonia smell, dull cloudy sunken eyes, and brown gills with yellow mucus. These are aspects that should be of concern when examining seafood. If any of these characteristics in the poor quality list are present, then the fish or seafood should not be eaten. An example of a highly toxic fish is bluefin tuna, which should be avoided at all times. Rainbow trout, sole, and rockfish should not be eaten more than two or three times per month and farmed salmon should not be eaten more than once a month.

References:

Journal Article:

Human in South Korea, 2005–2007 47.8 (2009): 1819-825. Science Direct. Elsevier Ltd, 4 May 2009. Web. 12 Oct. 2009. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6….>.Health Risk of Polychlorinated Biphenyl’s Resulting from Seafood Consumption

Websites:

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). 2000. Toxicological Profile for Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs). Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Web. 12 Oct. 2009. <http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts17.html>

“PCBs in Farmed Salmon | Environmental Working Group.” EWG Home | Environmental Working Group. Environmental Working Group, July 2003. Web. 12 Oct. 2009. <http://www.ewg.org/reports/farmedpcbs>.

Seafood Safe. Web. 13 Oct. 2009. <http://www.seafoodsafe.com/partners/learn.htm>.

Sustainable seafood methods. Sunset Publishing Corporation. Web. 13 Oct. 2009. <http://www.sunset.com/food-wine/flavors-of-the-west/mercury-pcbs-fish-seafood-00400000053189/>.

Both omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are essential, meaning the body needs them to function properly but cannot produce them on its own. Omega-6 is not bad at correct levels, it is needed for proper cell function throughout the body, however when there is too much it can wreak inflammatory havoc. Omega-3′s are a natural anti-inflammatory that are also needed for proper function of the body and negate any excess of omega-6′s.

The reason why the American diet has an excess of omega-6 can be seen in the oils used in most processed foods. High omega-6 oils such as corn, cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, palm, and peanut oils are most commonly used in processed foods because of their low cost. However, the absence of significant amounts of omega-3′s in these oils poses a problem, especially because dietary sources of high amounts of omega-3′s are seldom found in an American style diet.

The fix to the this problem is to look for foods that include canola, olive, walnut or flaxseed oils. For example, most potato chips are fried in sunflower and safflower oils. However, choosing a brand fried in canola oil such as Madhouse Munchies or Cape Cod Chips, both of which I found at my local Shaw’s, would be a healthier choice. This goes for all processed foods and baked goods. Another option is to begin including high omega-3 foods into the diet to negate excess omega-6′s. Foods such as tuna, salmon, flaxseeds, walnuts, shrimp, scallops, and winter squash are excellent choices. For more information on the omega contents of certain foods you can do a quick search over at nutritiondata.com, its the most complete source of nutrition information I have found yet.

References:

Simopoulos, A. P. “The importance of the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 essential fatty acids.”Biomed Pharmacother 8th ser. 56.365-79 (2002). PubMed. US National Library of Medicine, Oct. 2002. Web. 15 Dec. 2009. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12442909>.

“Dietary Fats: MedlinePlus.” National Institutes of Health. Web. 15 Dec. 2009. <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/dietaryfats.html>.