Omega-3 Fatty Acids For A Fit & Fine Heart

Fat and fatty acids are words that make everyone think of overweight bellies and blocked arteries.

But the truth is, not all fats are harmful. Especially, this particular type of fat that should be included in your diet if you want your heart to be fit and fine.

It’s time to boost up your fish oil supplements. Omega-3 fatty acids have promise, especially for those who have previously had a heart attack.

A recent study shows that high doses of this supplement can be just the thing to stop any further damage to the heart in a heart attack survivor.

For the research, 374 patients were chosen, all of whom were recent heart attack survivors. It is a known fact that heart tissue gets damaged after a heart attack and the surrounding tissues have to work harder to make up for the damage. This can lead to thickening of the tissues, a condition called fibrosis, which also leads to scarring of the tissue surrounding the damage.

Among the volunteers, one group was given a 4 gram dose of Omega-3 fatty acids, a high dose equivalent to consuming 8 ounces of salmon. The other group was given a placebo.

MRI heart scans were done 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and six months after the heart attack.

Compared to the placebo group, those who took the supplements were 39% less likely to show heart damage. They also had much lower inflammation levels.

Those patients who showed more than a 5% rise in the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood obtained the best benefits from the supplements.

A treatment option involving Omega-3 supplements might indeed be just what the heart needs to recuperate. Even anti-inflammatory agents like NSAIDS and steroids don’t work as well for healing damaged heart tissues.

The powers of Omega-3 fatty acids is not a new discovery – a study dating back to 1989 shows that volunteers who took oily fish or fish oil supplements showed a 29% reduction in the chances of death in the first two years after a heart attack.

A diet with a lot of fish is great for Omega-3 fatty acids. However, not all fish are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. Fatty fish, such as salmon, lake trout, herring, sardines and tuna, contain maximum amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids.

Flax seed and flax seed oil are other great options to obtain Omega-3.

It’s also important to eliminate all fast food and highly processed food, as well as limit cooking oils high in Omega-6 such as safflower and sunflower oils.