Three times weekly can transform how your body functions
Beneath the surface of common complaints—migraines, fatigue, stubborn skin—lies a quieter disruption: chronic inflammation of the gut, shaped daily by what we eat and how we prepare it. Dietitian Sandra Moñino invites us to reconsider the ordinary meal as a site of either harm or healing, arguing that the imbalance between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in modern diets is not fate but a correctable condition. Her counsel is neither radical nor exotic—blue fish, fiber before carbohydrates, cooled potatoes—yet it asks us to treat the kitchen as a place of consequence.
- Millions quietly accept migraines, fatigue, and bloating as personal misfortune, unaware that chronic gut inflammation may be the common thread pulling all of them together.
- The modern diet's heavy reliance on vegetable oils and refined grains floods the body with omega-6 fatty acids, tipping the inflammatory balance in a direction most people never consciously chose.
- Eating blue fish two to three times weekly offers a concentrated omega-3 counterweight—but only if it's prepared gently, since heat destroys the very compounds that make it valuable.
- Simple sequencing strategies—salad before carbs, protein and fat alongside starchy foods—can prevent blood sugar spikes and give the digestive system a fighting chance.
- Cooling cooked potatoes for twelve hours converts their starch into a form that feeds beneficial gut bacteria and produces butyrate, a natural anti-inflammatory compound the body can use immediately.
Weight and calories tell only part of the health story. The deeper picture lives in the gut, where chronic inflammation quietly drives complaints most people have stopped questioning—persistent migraines, bone-deep fatigue, unpredictable bloating, skin that refuses to clear. Dietitian Sandra Moñino traces these familiar miseries back to a single, addressable source, and insists they are not inevitable.
Her central recommendation is straightforward: eat blue fish—salmon, sardines, anchovies, mackerel—two to three times per week. Contemporary diets lean heavily on omega-6 fatty acids from vegetable oils and refined grains, creating a systemic imbalance that promotes inflammation. Omega-3-rich blue fish restores equilibrium. The catch is preparation: heat oxidizes omega-3, rendering it useless. Anchovies preserved in vinegar, untouched by cooking, retain their full nutritional value. Burnt or overcooked food, meanwhile, doesn't just lose its benefits—it generates acrilamides, compounds with carcinogenic properties.
How meals are assembled matters as much as what they contain. Eating fiber-rich salad before pasta or rice buffers blood sugar spikes. Pairing carbohydrates with protein and healthy fat—salmon alongside pasta, a slice of aged cheese—slows absorption and sustains energy. Refined grains behave like sugar in the body, causing bloating and intestinal damage; rye, spelt, quinoa, and amaranth offer more fiber and protein without the inflammatory cost. Avocado, nuts, and extra-virgin olive oil are not indulgences but necessities.
One overlooked technique completes the picture: refrigerating cooked potatoes or sweet potatoes for at least twelve hours transforms their starch into resistant starch, which travels to the colon intact, nourishes beneficial bacteria, and triggers the production of butyrate—a natural anti-inflammatory agent. It is a small, almost effortless intervention with real physiological consequences. The symptoms that feel permanent are signals, and the kitchen, it turns out, is where many of them can be answered.
What you weigh and how many calories you consume tell only part of the story about your health. The real picture lives deeper—in the invisible systems running beneath the surface, in the gut itself. Sandra Moñino, a dietitian who has built her practice around understanding inflammation, argues that many of the health problems people accept as inevitable or genetic are actually rooted in chronic intestinal inflammation, and that this condition is reversible.
Consider the complaints that have become so common they barely register as problems anymore: persistent migraines, a fatigue that coffee can't touch, bloating that comes and goes without warning, skin that won't clear. Most people assume these are simply their lot—bad luck, bad genes, the price of living in the modern world. Moñino sees them differently. She traces them back to a single source: inflammation in the gut. And she has a plan to address it.
The foundation of her approach centers on a simple dietary shift: eating blue fish—salmon, sardines, anchovies, mackerel—at least two to three times per week. The logic is straightforward but often overlooked. Most contemporary diets are heavily skewed toward omega-6 fatty acids, which come from vegetable oils used in cooking and from refined grains. This imbalance creates inflammation throughout the body. Blue fish provides omega-3 in concentrated form, a counterweight that can restore equilibrium. Moñino is direct about the potential: consuming blue fish three times weekly can transform how your body functions.
But the type of fish matters less than how it's prepared. Cooking destroys omega-3; if you char blue fish, the omega-3 oxidizes and vanishes. This is why anchovies in vinegar—prepared without heat—retain their full nutritional profile. More broadly, overcooking any food degrades its properties and can create acrilamides, compounds with carcinogenic effects. The blackened edges of burnt toast are not harmless flavor; they are a warning sign.
The order in which you eat also shapes how your body processes food. Before eating pasta or rice, eat a salad rich in fiber. This prepares your digestive system and prevents blood sugar from spiking suddenly. When you do eat carbohydrates, pair them with protein and healthy fat—a portion of salmon alongside your pasta, a piece of cheese. This slows absorption and gives your body steady energy rather than the crash that follows a quick spike.
Refined grains—white bread, traditional pasta, white rice, breakfast cereals—act on your body like pure sugar. They cause bloating and damage the intestine directly. Rye, spelt, quinoa, and amaranto offer more fiber and protein without the inflammatory effect. Healthy fats are not optional; they are necessary. Avocado, nuts, extra-virgin olive oil, and cheese from goats or sheep digest more easily than cow's milk cheese and support rather than undermine your health.
There is one more trick worth knowing. If you cook potatoes or sweet potatoes and then refrigerate them for at least twelve hours, their starch transforms into resistant starch. This reaches your colon intact, feeding the beneficial bacteria that live there and producing butyrate, a compound that acts as a natural anti-inflammatory agent. It is a small intervention with measurable effects.
The through-line connecting all of this is simple: what you eat and how you prepare it determines whether your body exists in a state of inflammation or calm. The problems that feel permanent—the migraines, the fatigue, the skin issues—are not inevitable. They are signals. And they can be answered.
Notable Quotes
Many common health problems—migraines, fatigue, bloating, skin issues—are rooted in chronic intestinal inflammation and are reversible— Sandra Moñino, dietitian
Eating a salad before carbohydrates prevents blood sugar spikes; pairing carbs with protein and healthy fat provides steady energy— Sandra Moñino
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does the gut matter so much? It seems like inflammation is everywhere in health talk now.
Because the gut is where your body decides what to accept and what to fight. When it's inflamed, it's in a constant state of alarm. That alarm spreads everywhere—your skin, your head, your energy levels. It's not separate from those problems; it's the root.
So blue fish is the answer?
It's part of it. The real answer is balance. Most people eat too much omega-6 from cooking oils and refined grains. Blue fish provides omega-3 to counterbalance that. Three times a week shifts the equation.
What about people who don't like fish?
The principle still applies—you need omega-3 from somewhere. But fish is the most concentrated source. If someone won't eat it, they're working against themselves.
You mentioned cooking matters. How much does that actually change things?
Completely. Burn your salmon and the omega-3 oxidizes away. You've eaten the calories but lost the benefit. It's not just about taste; it's about whether the food still does what it's supposed to do.
The resistant starch thing—cooling potatoes for twelve hours—that seems oddly specific.
It is specific because it works. The starch transforms into something your gut bacteria can use to make butyrate, which calms inflammation. It's a small action with real biochemical consequences.
So this isn't about restriction. It's about eating the right things the right way.
Exactly. You're not cutting calories or suffering. You're eating more intelligently so your body stops fighting itself.