The Beneficial Effects of Fish Oil on the Heart

Coronary heart disease continues to be one of the main causes of untimely death in the developed world. Measures like revascularization therapy, angioplasty, and bypass surgery restore the flow of blood to the affected heart muscle, when successful. However, these kinds of interventions are only a palliative, because they do not treat the roots of the causes of heart disease, which is the narrowing of arteries due to the build up of cholesterol, leading to their narrowing, which results in reducing or blocking the blood flow to the heart muscle. Fish oil has been proven to help in reducing cardiac diseases by a number of ways.

It has been around two decades since the beneficial effects of fish oil on the heart has been known, and interest has been growing ever since. In 1980, a study showed that the Eskimos of Greenland, whose diet comprises of about a pound of fish each day, have one of the lowest rates of coronary heart disease. Subsequently, considerable research has been done to find out how fish oil affects the arteries and the heart. Studies have proven that the omega-3 fatty acids that fish oil contains have an effect on blood platelets, making them less sticky, protect the arteries’ linings, and are also thought to reduce blood pressure.

Studies conducted in several countries have corroborated this fact, showing that people who consume fish on a regular basis do indeed have lower rates of heart related diseases. For instance, according to data in a 1998 study, it has been shown that if fish was eaten once in a week compared to less than once a month, it reduced the chances of suddenly dying from a heart attack by half. A year later, another report described a trial made in a random fashion wherein men who had had a heart attack were given either 300 mg of vitamin E, a fish oil supplement, neither, or both, and it was found that the group that were given the fish oil supplement had a considerably lower rate of stroke, heart attack and death in the following 31/2 years. Plus, the chances of suddenly dying from heart attack were reduced by nearly 50 percent.

Additional substantiation of the beneficial effects of fish oil on the heart has been published in a report about a fourteen year study done on 80,000 women. According to this study, it was found that including fish in the diet at least twice in a week, compared to less than once in a month, reduced the risk of strokes that are caused by the blockage of the artery leading to the brain by blood clots, by half. It was also found that consuming 1-3 fish servings in a month reduced the chances of getting heart disease by 20 percent, and consuming five servings in a week cut the risk by as much as 40 percent.

Here are some of the ways that omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil can be beneficial to the heart according to scientific research:

• It inhibits fatty deposits, or triglycerides, accumulating in the arteries
• It lowers the levels of LDL, which are considered to be the bad cholesterol, in the body
• It increases the levels of HDL, considered the good cholesterol, in the body

It is recommended that in order to take advantage of the beneficial effects of fish oil on the heart, it is best to get it from dietary sources, mainly from fish that live in cold water, like salmon, mackerel, trout, herring, and sardines. Substituting meat with fish may reduce the risk of heart disease simply by lowering the saturated fat in the diet.

However, three types of people may need to take fish oil supplements. One of them includes those who are afflicted with disorder in their heart rhythms, or arrhythmia. The omega-3 fatty acids that fish oil contains have the ability of stabilizing the uncontrolled electrical activity of the heart, thereby calming arrhythmias. The second type is those who have high triglyceride levels, particularly those who are unable to control the condition through exercise and diet. As has been mentioned above, it has been shown that fish oil supplements help in lowering triglycerides. The third type includes those who are afflicted with coronary heart disease. It is recommended by scientists that these people should consume at least one fatty fish serving every day. However, if this much of fish cannot be consumed, it is advised that a fish oil supplement be substituted instead.

Having benefits that are proven, and being safe, fish oil can be incorporated along with lifestyle and dietary changes, nutrients, and exercise into a strategy to prevent or manage cardiovascular problems.