There has been a dramatic increase in the scientific scrutiny of and public interest in omega-3 fatty acids and their impact on personal health. It is also true that much of the interest in omega-3 fatty acids dates back to the pioneering study of Greenland Eskimos by Bang and Dyerberg more than 30 years ago. They found that even though these Eskimos had a diet very high in fat, they had a very low rate of coronary heart disease. Their research spawned numerous research studies, and we now know a great deal more about how and why omega-3 fatty acids are essential to maintain good health. This remarkable odyssey may one day be viewed as one of the most important advances in the nutritional treatments of coronary heart disease and the management of inflammatory and degenerative diseases.
Omega-3 is the name given to a family of polyunsaturated fatty acids. However, from the point of view of human nutrition, the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are considered the most valuable because these are the forms the body requires. The body must obtain these key omega-3 fatty acids from our diet. Oil-rich fish are the best sources of these nutrients. In an ideal world, everyone should be able to obtain the long-chained omega-3 nutrients (EPA and DHA) by eating at least two servings of fish each week.
However, this simply isn’t happening despite well-published encouragement from dieticians and nutritionists. Concerns over pollutants in fish have not helped. Fish oil supplements have become a safe, convenient, and measurable way to obtain the desired amounts of EPA and DHA the body needs. The refined fish oils available today are free from the mercury and organic pollutants found in the fish we eat. They represent a readily available way to provide the body high concentrations of EPA and DHA.
The omega-3 fatty acids are essential to life at every stage, even before birth. We now know that the omega-3 fatty acids are key to brain and vision development during the last three months of pregnancy. This is because long-chained omega-3’s play an important role as structural membrane lipids, particularly in nerve tissue and the retina. They continue to play a major health role at every stage of life because they are also precursors to eicosanoids. These are highly reactive substances, such as prostaglandins and leukotrienes, which act locally to influence a wide range of functions in cells and tissues.
The role of omega-3 fatty acids in protecting against sudden cardiac death remains the focus of much of the interest in these nutrients. The largest study to date the GISSI- Prevention study, as well as the Diet and Reinfarction Trial (DART) study, revealed that individuals with known heart disease given 850 mg of EPA/DHA daily had a 20% reduction of death from any cause and a 45% reduction of sudden cardiac death (presumably from a second heart attack) compared to a similar number of patients in the study not given the fish oil supplement.
As a result of the scientific research, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends about 1 g of EPA/DHA daily for patients with known coronary heart disease. For people with no known heart disease, the AHA recommends eating oily fish at least twice a week, or about 500 mg of EPA/DHA per day. Therapy with low-dose omega-3 fatty acids significantly reduces the incidence of sudden cardiac death caused by cardiac arrhythmias which kills 340,000 people a year or 930 Americans each day.
The research continues into the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids. There is increasing evidence that diets high in fish may protect against the development of Alzheimer disease and prostate cancer. Omega-3 fatty acids have shown benefits in rheumatoid arthritis, SLE, Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis. What is clear is that most of us our not getting the adequate amounts of EPA and DHA we need. Therefore, the case for taking a fish oil supplement to meet the body�s needs, though always important has become even more compelling.
Go Back
