More science is coming out about why it is so important to make sure you have omega-3 fatty acids in your diet. A local heart doctor says there is scientific proof that everyone, healthy or not, should make taking fish oil part of their daily routine.
Omega=3’s are the good fats found in cold water fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines. Dr. Carl "Chip" Lavie, the Medical Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Preventive Cardiology at Ochsner, has found more evidence that omega-3 fatty acids could save your life.
"Once you've had a heart attack there's evidence that then, if you take omega-3 fatty acids, this will reduce the risk of subsequent major events by between 15 to 30 percent. It reduces mortality by somewhere in the 20 to 30 percent range and reduces sudden cardiac death by nearly 50 percent. So pretty profound benefit," said Dr. Lavie.
Research has long shown that omega-3 fatty acids can help heart rhythms, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol and prevent blood clots. Dr. Lavie's analysis of major heart studies finds it not only helps prevents heart disease in the first place but helps those who already have it.
"I actually published a paper last year right after Tim Russert's death called 'The Russert Impact: a Golden Opportunity to Promote Primary Coronary Prevention' and explained why that, at least from a theoretical basis, had he been eating omega-3 fatty acids or fish oil even though he had the big heart attack, he may not have had the big sudden death and may have survived it," said Dr. Lavie.
Medical Watch has reported in the past that the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil also help with brain development and with weight loss.
"It has many beneficial effects. It probably reduces inflammation. It may have some effects to even improve obesity, which of course is a major problem in our society increasing in epidemic proportions," added Dr. Lavie.
And diabetics get help in two ways from fish oil. They are at high risk for heart disease and omega-3 fatty acids improve insulin sensitivity.
But there are two problems. The first is that your doctor might not tell you how important it is to take fish oil.
"If you ask most doctors are fish oils bad or good they'd say well they are good, but they don't know all the details," said Dr. Lavie. "For example, they don't know nearly as much about omega-3 and fish oils as they would know for example about statins [a class of drugs that lower cholesterol]."
And the second is Americans don't get near enough in their diets.
"There's actually, you can measure it in the blood, there's an omega-3 index and if you did that you'd find that most people have very low quantities because most people don't eat much [coldwater] fish," said Dr. Lavie.
So if you don't regularly eat cold water, oily fish, or you're concerned about any mercury contamination, it's best to go with fish oil supplements. Dr. Lavie says everyone should be on at least 500 milligrams a day. but he has his heart patients on 1000 milligrams a day.
Doctors say the type of omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, you need are found in fish oil, not in plant-based or flax seed oil.
www.ochsner.org
