Fish Oil Supplements Are No Substitute for the Real Thing!

September 13th, 2012

The Journal of the American Medical Association recently reported a meta-analysis that showed Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation has no effect on death from cardiac causes, stroke, or sudden death.  To many people who are currently taking Fish Oils because they heard it was good for their heart, this may come as a disappointment.  The recent finding comes as no surprise to me, given the recent controversy over the protective value of a high HDL (aka “Good”) cholesterol.  In fact, one of the main effects of fish oils on the cholesterol profile is to raise the HDL.

There are many confounding variables with many of the fish oil studies.  For example, some people who participated in the studies may think that the fish oils would “cancel out” the cholesterol in their diet, and instead of eating fish for dinner may opt for a large steak.  Obviously this is an exaggeration, but it does illustrate how supplementation instead of obtaining the food from the natural source can provide a false sense of security.

The original idea that a diet high in Omega-3 fish oils originated from observations of diets eaten in the Mediterranean Sea region and Japan.  People in those areas of the world were noted to have longer lifespans and fewer deaths from heart disease.  Obviously, there is more to those diets than Omega-3 and I think we should learn to adopt other aspects of their diets, such as consuming less red meat, having 3 or more fish meals per week, eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, and most importantly, reasonable portions of food.  For vegetarians and people who don’t like fish, Omega-3 can be found in flax seeds, soybeans, chia seeds and walnuts.

Currently, we are all trying to find that “magic pill” and we are repeatedly finding there really isn’t one.  I think the best advice is prevention by living a healthy lifestyle through proper nutrition and exercise.