In a previous article I talked about the importance of adding more healthy fats to your diet. I also mentioned a number of foods high in omega-3 fatty acids.
This article is about other plant-based sources of omega 3, including suggestions on how to enjoy them. Here are some more yummy and creative ways to lose weight and get really healthy.
Hemp seeds and hemp seed oil
Like chia seeds hemp seeds also contain complete protein, making it one of the favorite healthy protein sources of vegan and non-vegetarian body builders alike. Hemp seeds are high in vitamin E and globulin, a nutrient that is crucial in boosting and strengthening the immune system. Given the health benefits of hemp, we consider it a super food.
As with flax oil it is better to consume whole hemp seeds than hemp seed oil (unless you’re needing a quick, high boost of readily available omega 3s, which omega-3 oils can definitely provide). Just remember to use the oil sparingly if you choose it over hemp seeds.
How to eat hemp seeds:
-add the seeds to salads and rice meals (cooked or raw).
-make fresh hemp seed milk by blending the seeds with some water. Strain the milk afterwards and use the pulp in making desserts or soups.
– add hemp to your green smoothies
-use in making raw vegan cheese dip instead of using nuts and seeds. Soak a cup or two of hemp seeds for a few hours. Drain and add 1 ½ to two tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon to ¼ cup of nutritional yeast (depending on how cheesy you want it to be), enough Himalayan salt, and a little water for blending.
You can also add some chopped red bell pepper and a pinch or two of onion, garlic, and chili powder if you want to make a Mexican/nacho cheese dip.
-drizzle hemp oil onto salads and raw soups.
Avocado
Avocados don’t just contain healthy fat; they’re also good sources of protein. They contain 18 amino acids, vitamin A precursors, selenium, B-complex vitamins, potassium, zinc, and vitamins C and E, so they’re not just anti-adipogenic but anti-aging as well!
How to eat avocado:
-add slices to your salad and sandwich.
-make some guacamole and use lettuce or cabbage as your wraps/chips. I make Korean guac by mashing some avo in a bowl with enough vegan kimchi.
-using a food processor, create a dip by blending the flesh of one avocado with a little salt, a tablespoon or two of freshly-squeezed lemon juice, and a pinch of mustard powder. You can add onion and garlic powder to enhance the taste, or cayenne pepper/chili powder if you like it spicy.
Walnuts
Aside from omega 3 walnuts also contain phytonutrients that are anti-obesogenic. Also, walnuts are shaped like the brain because they’re good for the brain. So when you eat walnuts you can lose weight without losing your mind.
They also contain protein, fiber, and a rare type of vitamin E that helps fight heart disease. You can buy cold-pressed walnut oil if you wish but it’s a bit pricey and hard to find (also, see notes on flax seed oil and hemp seed oil consumption above).
How to eat:
-chop and add to salads, oatmeal, porridge, and desserts.
-make raw desserts such as raw fudge by combining raw cacao powder, dried dates, alcohol-free vanilla extract, and raw walnuts in the food processor or a high-powered blender and process until a ball of dough is formed. Transfer the content into a square pan and flatten with clean hands or a spatula. Cut up into square or rectangular pieces and enjoy!
-grind up into a coarse powder and season with some salt or unpasteurized tamari, garlic powder, and onion powder. Use as a raw vegan ground meat substitute.
-coat with spirulina powder and eat! I personally scoop about 1/4 teaspoon of spirulina powder using a walnut and I’m in spirulina and omega 3 heaven!
Spirulina
Spirulina contains 60-80% protein, making it the highest source of protein on the planet minus the saturated fat and cholesterol. It also detoxifies the blood, helping your body get rid of excess blood fats.
This blue-green algae is also good for the eyes, skin, heart, brain, liver, muscles, and nerves. Depending on your source spirulina can taste cheesy or egg-like.
Some people aren’t crazy about the smell, but if you’re crazy about the taste then it shouldn’t matter. Spirulina is one superfood that you can definitely enjoy everyday!
How to eat spirulina:
-make spirulina popcorn by adding the powder as your flavoring for either raw cauliflower or air-popped popcorn. Add some salt, cayenne pepper, or nutritional yeast if desired.
-add to raw rice (cauliflower, parsnip, radish, or jicama rice) with a little salt. You can add ½ to 1 teaspoon of cold-pressed olive oil and a bit of garlic powder if you like. You can mix some spirulina powder to cooked brown rice too; just make sure that the rice is not very hot to preserve the enzymes.
-add some powder (½ to 1 teaspoon) to your smoothies or fresh juices.
As for the spirulina smoothie video the chef made use of pasteurized apple juice, which usually has added sugar and therefore not low GI.
It’s not a smoothie recipe but it has chocolate in it so it kind of masks the taste of spirulina for those who don’t like the taste. The effect of raw cacao and spirulina combined is simply magic.
-create a super green salad by adding a teaspoon or two of the powder to your salad. I ate a huge salad one time made of crispy iceberg lettuce, raw onion rings, julienned carrots, and red bell pepper slices. I added about a tablespoon of flax oil and 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of spirulina powder (I really like it that much!) without any salt and it tasted fab!
Dark leafy greens
Dark leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, collards, and bok choy contain some fat-busting omega 3s. They are considerably high in beta carotene, calcium, magnesium, iron, protein, and vitamin C per serving.
They also have significant amounts of chlorophyll, which increases alkalinity and reduces your body’s total acid load. Acidosis often leads to weight gain, so increasing your consumption of dark green veggies can be fat-burning in at least 3 ways, especially if you eat them raw.
How to eat:
-hand-wilt with a raw sauce or dressing and marinate in the ref for a few hours.
-dehydrate kale massaged with either plain cold-pressed oil and some seasonings or with a cashew-based raw vegan cheese dip/sauce.
-steam lightly for 2 to 3 minutes.
-stir-fry with a small amount of oil on low heat for a few minutes. Or better yet, steam-fry without using any oil.
Seaweed
Fish are high in omega 3 because they eat seaweed. Sea veggies contain iodine, which the thyroid needs to function optimally. Hypothyroidism causes weight gain. Seaweed also contains calcium, protein, magnesium, carotenoids, and a fat-melting nutrient called fucoxanthin.
Kelp, laver (nori), dulse, wakame, arame, hijiki, and alaria are some of the sea vegetables that you can try. Laver, arame, hijiki, and dulse are the ones with the lowest sodium content so try to stick to them.
Kelp contains 233 mg of sodium per 100 grams so you can also consume it in moderate amounts. A 100-gram serving of wakame on the other hand has 1,105 mg of sodium so try to consume it in more limited amounts if your other meals for the day already contain salt.
How to eat seaweed:
-shred manually or cut with kitchen shears and add to salads and soups (such as miso soup).
-use kelp powder and dulse granules as substitutes for salt.
-purchase kelp noodles or soak kelp sheets in room-temp water and rinse well until they’re not gooey anymore. Cut the sheets into fettuccine pasta using a knife. Mix some raw pasta sauce to your noodles or fettuccine “pasta” and eat the same way you eat their cooked counterparts without worrying at all about weight gain!
-blend kelp powder or dulse granules to plain/simple nut or seed-based dips or pates with a tablespoon or two of fresh lemon juice and some raw onion to make them taste like salmon or tuna.
-wrap raw vegetables using nori sheets maki-style. Sometimes I make a raw, well-seasoned unstir-fried cauliflower rice with veggies and some mashed avocado. I lay down a nori sheet, spread some of the avo-rice mixture, roll the sheet, and seal the edges with water. I don’t cut up the nori roll into small maki pieces.
I just eat it as a skinny, open-ended Japanese burrito. A bit messy to eat but definitely finger-licking good! You can also make a nori cone filled with your favorite negative-calorie vegetables.
Here is another version of a veggie nori ‘burrito’ wrap.
One success will lead to many others, and before you know it, preparing meals and desserts that make use of vegan omega 3 fats will be effortless and enjoyable to you.
