Cardio-Protective Benefits of Weekly Fatty Fish
Eating Salmon or Herrings Once a Week May Provide Heart Benefits
Eating salmon or other fatty fish such as herrings or sardines just once a week helped Swedish men reduce their risk of heart failure, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Boston have found.
Dr Emily Levitan, research fellow in the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Center at BIDMC, and her team followed 39,367 Swedish men between the ages of 45 and 79 from 1998 to 2004.
The men who ate fatty fish (herring, mackerel, salmon, whitefish and char) once a week were 12 percent less likely to develop heart failure, compared with those who ate no fatty fish.
“Previous research has demonstrated that fatty fish and omega-3 fatty acids help to combat risk factors for a range of heart-related conditions, such as lowering triglycerides in the blood, reducing blood pressure, heart rate and heart rate variability,” Dr Levitan said.
They were associated with lower rates of heart failure among elderly Americans, she said, “but this has not been confirmed in broader age ranges or other populations where source and type of fish may differ”, hence the Swedish study, one of the largest studies to investigate the protective effects of omega-3s.
Omega-3 Fats in Fish are Cardio-Protective
The men’s diets were recorded using food-frequency questionnaires, and their health outcomes were tracked through Swedish inpatient hospital registers and cause-of-death registers.
They were divided into five groups from those who ate no fatty fish to those who ate three or more servings per week.
The men who ate fatty fish once a week were estimated to be 12 percent less likely to develop heart failure, compared with men who ate no fatty fish.
The results were similar for the men taking fish oils rather than eating fish.
The group which consumed 0.36 grams per day of omega-3 fatty acids showed a 33 percent reduced risk of heart failure.
Moderation in Consuming Omega-3 Important
However, Dr Levitan’s study showed that a greater intake of omega-3s either by eating more meals of fatty fish or taking greater amounts of fish oils, did not confer more cardio-protective benefits.
Those men who ate either two servings a week or three or more servings of fatty fish had nearly the same heart failure risk as those who ate no fish at all.
Similarly, those who consumed more than 0.36 grams per day of omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil, had a similar risk of heart failure to the men who consumed little or no fish oils.
Dr Levitan suggested that the men who ate more fatty fish or fish oils, but still had a high risk of heart failure, “may already be in poor health, and may be trying to improve their health through fish consumption.”
The study looked at men only, and she said it was important to do a similar study on the value of fatty fish to women’s cardiac health.
The paper, ‘Fish consumption, marine omega-3 fatty acids, and incidence of heart failure’ was published in the May issue of the European Heart Journal.
Moderate Consumption of Fatty Fish Provides Benefits
“Our study reinforces the current recommendations for moderate consumption of fatty fish,” Dr Levitan said.
The American Heart Association guidelines recommend eating fatty fish twice a week.
CSIRO Guidelines for Australians do not specify how many meals of fatty fish adults should eat per week , but advise consuming a wide variety of fish over three to five meals a week.
“By eating the low fat fish, you will be reducing the total fat in your diet, and by eating the moderate to high fat fish you will be consuming more omega-3 fatty acids. Both modifications are beneficial,” said Dr Peter Clifton, nutritionist at CSIRO Preventative Health Flagship.
See Also: Cardio Risk Factors to Watch for
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