Posted September 24, 2021: by Bill Sardi
Fish oil is one of the most popular supplements sold, amount to $2.3 billion in sales (2019 U.S.)
A scientific battle continues over whether consumption of omega-3 oil-rich fish (3 times a week) and/or daily fish oil supplements offer any health benefits. But there are so many economic and political interest involved, health authorities can’t come to any solid conclusion. So fish oil, even though billions of dollars of it are sold annually in the US, never becomes a centerpiece of the practice of medicine like cholesterol-lowering statin drugs have (~$18 billion/year US).
First, doctors are self-interested. They generally deliver medicine on their terms. Doctors diagnose and treat disease, they are not in the “business” of producing health. Doctoring today represents disease care, not health promotion. The more diseases that occur and the longer they last, the more money the profession makes. So, prevention is something patients must initiate on their own.
Interest in fish oil began in the 1970s when it was discovered the Inuit (Eskimo) Indians in Greenland, who lived on a diet of fish, exhibited a dramatically lower incidence of heart attack. But subsequent controlled studies produced mixed results.
In 2008 large controlled studies were published involving omega-3 fish oil and fatal coronary artery disease and sudden cardiac death. Modest intake of fish or fish oil (~250 mg/day of EPA-DHA) reduced the risk of cardiac death by 36% compared to no fish oil. There was little extra benefit with high doses.
Fish oil sales were swimmingly rising.
It took till November of 2020 for a controlled study of the 3095 Inuits, among which 216 had their first heart attack or stroke, to reveal fish oil failed to show any association with cardiovascular risks.
In that same year it was reported that 4000 milligrams of purified omega-3 oil reduced the relative risk for a cardiovascular event by 25%. But that is a very modest benefit. Maybe 1 in 100 in hard numbers averted a heart attack.
A review of 40 years of published studies involving the Inuit concluded the Inuit have the same risk for coronary artery disease as other non-Eskimo populations.
But maybe there was another detracting factor involved. A more recent study showed that mercury, which is a contaminant in fish from smoke stacks of oil burning fuel plants (not naturally found in fish or the seas), exceeded toxic levels in the Inuit which countered the healthy effects of omega-3 fish oil from fresh or frozen fish.
A pooled group of studies involving over 2 million participants and over 100,000 deaths revealed fish oil intake reduces risk for cardiac death by a modest 13% among those with the highest intake.
The most recent reports conclude the data on omega-3 fish oil:
A recent review attempted to sort out fish oil science from pseudo-science and concluded 4000 milligrams of purified fish oil “demonstrated an extraordinary outcome of 25% relative reduction” in heart attacks and strokes. But in hard numbers that was still a modest result, and it took four expensive prescription fish oil capsules a day to achieve that result. The benefits primarily pertained to those who had high triglyceride levels.
But wait.
The scientific argument is over.
The prevailing question is what is being measured. Blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels? Heart attacks and strokes? But the ultimate measure is survival.
There is a new report that would be akin to finding a certain kind of motor oil extended the life of your auto engine by almost five years.
Just a 1% increase in blood levels of omega-3s increases human life expectancy by 4.7 years!!
What is being reported is that fish oil blood levels predict mortality in humans from ANY CAUSE, smoking, alcohol use, diabetes, you name it.
High red blood cell levels of omega-3s increased life expectancy by almost 5 years! Smokers take 4.7 years off of their lives, so fish oil, regardless of tobacco use, produces the same gain in life expectancy as smoking cessation!
Where were the news headlines about this? (First reported June 16, 2021 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)
Forget cholesterol levels. Forget triglyceride test numbers.
The most convincing evidence is provided in the following chart.
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11
17
52
95
14
24
237
6
56
43
10
116
15
66
105