On Thu, 8 Aug 2002, John Wilton wrote:

> I am new to this list, but I had a question nagging at my brain for the
> last few weeks. Everyone seems to agree that the omega 3's in olive oil,
> canola oil, and coconut oil are very good for your health and you should
> eat them up. But how Paleo is this? I'm sure they didn't have these oils
> back in the day, so why should we eat them?

Paleo people's had a diet much richer in omega-3 than our modern diets by
a long shot. That's why everyone is jonesin' to get the proper amount of
omega-3 in their diet :)

Andrew Stoll in his book "The Omega-3 connection" estimates that inuits
that subist on fish and seals get about 30 grams of omega-3 a day.

The reasons wild game and fish are excellent sources, is because they're
well wild...just like what we got in the hunter gatherer days.

I was not aware that canola, coconut and olive oil contained much omega-3.
I know that flax seed oil contains a fair amount of the shorter chain
plant based omega-3 (alpha-linolenic acid).

Fish and meats contain the long chain eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and
docosahexanoic acid (DHA).

One misconception I think some people may have is that they're getting the
same omega-3 from plants that they get from meats. They're different.

If you're looking to dig deeper, I found "The Omega-3 Connection" an
interesting read.

Craig