The Queen of Fats: Why Omega-3s Were Removed from the Western Diet and What We Can Do to Replace Them (California Studies in Food and Culture) [Paperback]

Susan Allport (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2008 | Series: California Studies in Food and Culture

A nutritional whodunit that takes readers from Greenland to Africa to Israel, The Queen of Fats gives a fascinating account of how we have become deficient in a nutrient that is essential for good health: the fatty acids known as omega-3s. Writing with intelligence and passion, Susan Allport tells the story of these vital fats, which are abundant in greens and fish, among other foods. She describes how scientists came to understand the role of omega-3s in our diet, why commercial processing has removed them from the food we eat, and what the tremendous consequences have been for our health. In many Western countries, epidemics of inflammatory diseases and metabolic disorders have been traced to omega-3 deficiencies. The Queen of Fats provides information for every consumer who wants to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and obesity and to improve brain function and overall health. This important and compelling investigation into the discovery, science, and politics of omega-3s will transform our thinking about what we should be eating.
* Includes steps you can take to add omega-3s to your diet
* Shows why eating fish is not the only way, or even the best way, to increase omega-3s.
* Provides a new way to understand the complex advice about the role and importance of fats in the body
* Explains how and why the food industry has created a deadly imbalance of fats in our foods
* Shows how omega-3s can be reintroduced to our diet through food enrichment and changes in the feeding of livestock

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A decidedly proactive voice for healthy balance and moderation in fat consumption."--Gastronomica: Journal of Food & Culture

From the Inside Flap

"A wonderful explanation of the wide world of fats that is a must-read for discerning (and healthy) eaters."--Mehmet C. Oz, author of You: An Owner's Manual

"Susan Allport's account of the discovery of omega-3 fatty acids combines colorful science, intriguing personalities, and a well-digested biochemistry into a convincing recipe for a healthier diet. The Queen of Fats is a fascinating new detective story--with a solution that matters!"--Richard Wrangham, author of Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence

"The Queens of Fats is a fascinating nutritional detective story delivering a big surprise: how one of the most important changes to the diet wrought by industrialization of food went unnoticed. But if Allport is right, the disappearance of omega-3s from the Western diet is the key to understanding why that diet is making us so sick."--Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

"Allport provides a fascinating 'whodunit' about the discovery of how fats work, what wonders omega-3s could perform in thwarting chronic disease, and a timely warning to the world about the imbalance of essential fats in the food supply. I reveled in the twists and turns of nutrition history as it unfolds and uncovers the ways food processing carries hefty health risks, as well as benefits."--Sharron Dalton, author of Our Overweight Children: What Parents, Schools, and Communities Can Do to Control the Fatness Epidemic

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (January 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520253809
• ISBN-13: 978-0520253803
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,251 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #72 in Books > Medical Books > Allied Health Professions > Diet Therapy

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 83 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting history of omega-3 fats September 14, 2006

By Gerald Brainum VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Allport does an excellent job of recounting the history of omega-3 fatty acids, the people involved in the discovery of the essential nature of omega-3, and why these vital fats are rare in the typical diet. My only critique would be that Allport seemed to ignore the evidence that alpha-linoleic acid, the so-called parent omega-3 found in the food supply, is poorly converted into the real players of omega-3, EPA and DHA, in humans. Men convert only about 2% of ALA into EPA, and none into DHA. Women are a bit more efficient in this conversion. As such, it makes far more sense to rely on direct sources of EPA and DHA, such as fish oil supplements and fatty fish. Allport also makes an error when she says that " all fish are rich in omega-3." In fact, only fatty fish are rich in omega-3, such as sardines, herring, mackeral, and halibut. The lean fish sources are poor to mediocre sources. These minor errors aside, however, the book is an entertaining and educational source of information about omega-3 fats.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Ain't no Humpty Dumpty! Great read! September 25, 2006

By Edward A. Shergalis

Format:Hardcover

This book is part detective story, part science lesson and part narrative. It is written in clear, straightforward prose that clarifies and educates as well as entertains. It answers a lot of the questions you may have about fats: why are they called Omega-3s? What is the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats? Why are animal fats called fats and plant fats called oils? Are there good fats and bad fats? Is the Atkins diet really healthy?

The narrative format used to trace the history of the discovery of these amazing fats really works. Learning how the facts about fats were uncovered helps the reader understand why a diet rich in Omega-3s is important, unlike many of the fad diets and spurious nutritional advice that are pitched in the media today. It is also very instructive to see how the facts were often misinterpreted and misunderstood when they were first discovered and what new discoveries brought the truth into focus. Allport provides a thorough and balanced account of the science underlying her thesis that these fats, the Omega-3s, are truly the Queen of the Fatty Acids.

And on a final note, unlike most science books, this one has a conclusion that could change your life... for the better. It not only provides a well documented, clearly reasoned case for the benefits of having more Omega-3s in your diet, but it also offers simple, practical advice about adding them back into your diet. Read the book, heed her advice and you're sure to be healthier, smarter and smile more!

112 of 134 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Some valuable info overcome by errors December 6, 2007

By Joel M. Kauffman

Format:Hardcover

Here is a history of research leading to the discoveries that linoleic acid, an omega-6 type, is essential in diet in small amounts, and the later finding that linolenic acid, an omega-3 type, is also essential, and no longer found in desirable amounts in our diets. The latter is converted to the very valuable EPA and DHA, which may also be eaten as fish oil or as supplements. The omega-3s in adequate amounts are said to prevent heart attacks, obesity and cancer, at the least. Advice on what foods to eat or avoid is given in a clear, if not totally evidence-based manner. How to have one's own blood tested for omega levels is given. The fairly recent discoveries are presented that linoleic acid is converted to eicosanoids that cause inflammation vs. eicosanoids that cause relaxation from omega-3s. An important angle, if true, was that a high level of omega-6s in the diet will partially prevent the conversion of plant omega-3 (linolenic) to EPA and DHA.

The writing is very easy to read, very well-edited, and the diagrams and photos are adequate. There is an adequate index, but the citations are not numbered in the text, but are together near the end by page number, which makes it harder to check claims. Many claims which which were considered too proven to have citations were not actually proven or bolstered with citations.

Some angles in Queen are new to me, but the first popular book on the desirability of omega-3s may have been: Enter the Zone, by Barry Sears, PhD, and Bill Lawren, New York, NY:Regan/HarperCollins, 1995. In his The Omega Rx Zone, 2002, the omega-3 and -6 fatty acid message is greatly improved, but the message on saturated fats was not. So Allport has not contributed much that is original.... My opinion is that one of the best books on omega-3s in the diet is The Modern Nutritional Diseases by Alice & Fred Ottoboni.

Unfortunately, there was considerable misdirection. The Seven-Country Study by Ancel Keys that was so influential (cholesterol and saturated fat being "bad") was not presented as the fraud it was. For a great description, see The Great Cholesterol Con (GCC), by Anthony Colpo (2007). For an honest Fourteen Country Study see another GCC of 2007, this one by Malcolm Kendrick, in which Kendrick showed that the 7 countries with the lowest saturated fat consumption had the highest mortality from heart disease (450/100,000 per year), while the 7 countries with the highest saturated fat intake had the lowest mortality from heart disease (170/100,000). See also The Cholesterol Myths by Uffe Ravnskov, 2000. Low-carb high-fat diets were ridiculed from start to finish as destructive and a fad, despite overwhelming evidence that they are not. See Nielsen JV, Joensson EA, Low-carbohydrate diet in type 2 diabetes. Stable improvement of bodyweight and glycaemic control during 22 months follow-up, Nutrition & Metabolism 2006;3(22) doi:10.1186/1743-7075-3-22. While Allport may be correct in claiming that omega-3s will prevent or reverse diabetes (and she is not always clear on which type), the evidence is clear that type-1 is much more easily controlled with a low-carb high-fat diet, and type-2 may be controlled so well on a low-carb diet that no medication is needed. See Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution, rev. ed. by Richard K. Bernstein, MD, Boston, MA:Little, Brown, 2003. So Allport's recommendation to eat large amounts of fruit (p139) could be a disaster for diabetics. Eskimos are often obese albeit healthy, so omega-3s for weight loss seems too much to claim. And she seems unaware of the prevalence of grain allergies. See Natural Health & Weight Loss, Barry Groves, 2007; Know Your Fats by Mary G. Enig, 2000. Also Allport seems to equate eating linolenic acid as the equivalent of eating EPA and DHA in fish, and does not recommend supplements of the latter two. Neither idea had any supporting evidence presented. Nor was the ideal range of omega-3 intake given. A study of the conversion of radioisotopically-labeled linolenic acid to EPA in humans showed poor conversion, and even poorer conversion to DHA. Adequate intakes of pre-formed DHA are needed for good health. See Burdge G, alpha-Linolenic acid metabolism in men and women: nutritional and biological implications, Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 2004;7:137-144.

A list of 67 more errors may be obtained from [e-mail]. Thus this book is not recommended. Read more ›

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book! September 30, 2006

By L. C Pullen

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have read a great deal about omega-3's and the essential fatty acids over the past couple of years and yet I still had many unanswered questions. Susan Allport delivered a compelling story that clearly addressed most of my questions. I highly recommend this book!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What Allport Does Best October 10, 2006

By Mary W. Carpenter

Format:Hardcover

As always, in "The Queen of Fats," Susan Allport brings a science story alive with just the right amount of esoteric detail to draw the reader in and keep him/her there. In this book, she ferrets out intriguing human dramas behind one of the most misunderstood topics of the day - Omega-3s -- which themselves appear to be the crucial and often-missing cornerstone of personal health. In contrast to diet books that tell you what to eat in a way that is never completely convincing, Allport lays out the facts in such a way that readers can decide for themselves how to make healthy decisions about what they eat.

Mary Carpenter

author, "Rescued by a Cow and a Squeeze"