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I’ve heard bad things about omega-6 fatty acids. What’s the difference between them and omega-3s?

answer:
Both omega-6s and omega-3s are essential fatty acids (EFAs), and although they’re critical to human health, the body can’t make them on its own. 0mega-3s get more press because of their specific physiological benefits, which include reducing the risk of heart disease and alleviating hypertension and depression. 0mega-6s, on the other hand, are important for joint and skin health. “The problem is that the typical American diet contains 11 to 30 times more omega-6s than omega-3s,” says Cynthia Sass, R.D., M.P.H., a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. Researchers believe this imbalance can lead to inflammation, which studies have linked to an increased risk of heart disease and cancer.

So what’s the right balance? “One to four times more omega-6s than omega-3s,” says Sass. Since few nutrition labels contain fatty-acid info, Sass recommends cutting back on known omega-6-heavy foods (meat, poultry, eggs, and corn and soybean oils) and bulking up on omega-3-rich foods (fish, walnuts, and olive oil). You might also want to take an omega-3 supplement, such as fish-oil capsules or a mixture of DHA and EPA (two common forms of omega-3). “Keep your daily dose to 1,000 milligrams,” says Sass.

My good friend is very unhappy in her current job, which she finds really mundane and unchallenging. She doesn’t want to quit though, both because of the attractive salary, and also because it will not reflect well on her resume if she quits her first full-time job after only two months. However, as a friend, I can see that she is really miserable and that she would probably derive more job satisfaction from a position in another field. Should I advise her to quit this job or should she stick it out for a few more months?

answer:
Two months? That isn’t long enough to evaluate the job at all. And yes, unless there is a very good reason it won’t reflect well that she gave in after such a short time. And I do think that it is a bit dramatic to be really miserable in two months, unless she is being horribly bullied in the office. There are parts of every job that are mundane. So, your friend should speak to her boss, tell her that she would love to take on more responsibility and challenges, and instead of feeling stuck in a rut, try to do something with the situation.

My brother was in a car accident over two years ago and he has been paralyzed waist-down since then. It’s becoming more and more difficult to care for him. I’ve noticed in the past year that he has become deeply depressed. Do you know of any counselors we can take him to? Also, I know this is a long-shot, but do you know of any kind of breakthrough that offers hope to paralytics?

answer:
I am sorry to hear about your brother. Depression is a common problem with young healthy people who suddenly become paralyzed in a part of the body. As for your long-shot, there may be some hope in the future when there is adequate stem cell research. I know of stem cells being used to correct nerve problems in diabetic eyes and also in Parkinson’s disease. In the future, it may be possible to treat paralysis.

A study in the April 2001 issue of the journal Nature has helped us to better understand how marijuana causes users to have an increased appetite, a.k.a. “the munchies.” Molecules called endocannabinoids, marijuana like chemicals present in the hypothalamus of the human brain, bind with cannabinoid receptors in the brain and activate hunger. (The main active chemical in marijuana is THC—delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol—which is in the category of chemicals called cannabinoids.) The chemicals from marijuana bind to these same receptors and prompt those mad dashes to the fridge.

Eating enough poppy seeds can cause your urine to test positive for opiates. It is difficult to say how many poppy seeds you need to eat, but some reports have stated that three poppy-seed bagels, for example, could generate a positive test result. Pastries and cookies that contain heavy amounts of poppy seeds could also lead to a positive test.

I Just inherited $250,000, How should I invest it?

answer:
“Baby boomers are set to retire in huge numbers in the next 5 years,” says Emily Card, author of Managing Your Inheritance, “and the Sun Belt is where they’re heading.” Card recommends investing in raw land. as it minimizes the amount you pay in property taxes and saves you the headache of dealing with tenants and maintenance issues. “But any type of real estate will do,” says Card. “When you take into account all of the possible tax breaks, it outperforms every other type of investment. Period.”

If dealing in land makes you nervous, however. Card suggests buying government securities through treasurydirect.gov, the only financial-services Web site that lets you buy and redeem everything from Series EE Savings Bonds to Treasury Notes directly from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. “There’s also no overhead charge, so you’ll save the 1 percent management fee you’d normally pay if you bought into mutual funds,” says Card. “Plus, it’s backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, which has never defaulted on this type of obligation.”

Prices for premium gasoline are through the roof. Should I switch to regular? is there another way to save?

answer:
Your car will likely run just as well on regular as it does on premium. Only 6 percent of owner’s manuals call for the higher grade, according to Justin McNaull, a spokesman for the American Automobile Association, and almost all cars are equipped with on board computers that adjust ignition timing to account for whatever grade of gasoline you have in the tank (lower-octane fuels burn faster than higher-octane ones). If your car is designed to run more efficiently on premium, however, you might notice a reduction in performance and fuel economy if you switch to regular, though probably not enough to offset the financial benefits of switching to a lower-octane gasoline.

Beyond that, McNaull recommends paying attention to gas prices as you drive about town. Off-brand, mom-and-pop stations usually offer the best prices because they buy their gas at a discount from shipments that are left over from national brands. If they pay less, you pay less. You can also keep track of gas prices at Web sites like gasbuddy.com and gaspricewatch.com, both of which allow you to compare prices as reported by fellow drivers. But, explains McNaull, “the prices on these sites can go stale fairly quickly because they’re not always updated daily.”