Seven More Surprising Health Benefits of Fish Oil:

05/25/07

By Dr. Myatt

Omega-3 fatty acids as found in fish oil continues to show its worth in conventional medical studies.

Here are some of the newest research reports on Omega-3 fatty acids, taken directly from recent medical journals:

• Fish Oil Added to Statin Therapy Reduces Risk For Major Coronary Events
  Results of The Japanese EPA Lipid Intervention Study (JELIS), ongoing for 4.6 years, show that the addition of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, a.k.a. "fish oil") to low-dose statin therapy significantly reduced the incidence of major coronary events compared with statins alone. The study looked at effects of statin drugs alone compared to statin drugs with fish oil.

• Fish Oil Alone Decreases Heart Attack Risk
  Even without statin drugs, fish oil alone decreases the risk of heart attack, especially "sudden death."

• Omega-3 Reduces Risk of Colon Cancer
  A "significant dose-dependent reductions in risk" for colon cancer is seen in people who consume larger amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, especially the kind found in fish oil (EPA and DHA).

• Fish Oil Slows Both Early and Late Macular Degeneration
  MD risk can be lowered by up to 40% with regular consumption of fish oil. For early MD, eating fish once per week attained these protective levels. For late MD, eating fish 3 times per week was necessary to achieve these results. The effects of higher Omega-3 fatty acids was more pronounced when intake of polyunsaturated vegetable fats (all usual cooking oils except olive and canola) were decreased as O-3 intake was increased.

• Higher I.Q.'s in Children When Mom Takes Fish Oil During Pregnancy
  Children whose mother's had the highest blood levels of EPA and DHA (Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil) did significantly better on I.Q. tests at age 4 than those born to mother's with low O-3 levels. Other studies have demonstrated better eye-hand coordination in kids of moms who took O-3's during pregnancy.

• Fish Oil Increases Weight Loss in Overweight Men
  Overweight men on calorie-restricted diets lost an average of 2.2 pounds more per month when fish or fish oil supplements were included in their diets. These effects were not seen in women.
  Fish Oil Decreases High Triglycerides

• Fish oil works as well as niacin (a B vitamin) and gemfibrozil (a drug) for lowering high triglyceride levels. Fish oil is now available as a prescription drug at 20 times the cost of non-prescription varieties.

AND Now, from the "We Want to Make Any Useful Natural Substance into a Prescription Drug" Department...

...(and also from Dr. Myatt's "I Told You So" Department)...

The makers of prescription fish oil, which is slightly more concentrated than most non-prescription varieties but also 20 times more expensive, want you to believe that their obscenely expensive fish oil is better because, well, it's "FDA Approved" and therefore safer. Hahaha. (Please see this month's drug recalls and safety warnings here).

Here's a clip of the drivel the drug company is feeding doctors about their prescription fish oil: "P-OM3 is the only omega-3 fatty acid product (Omacor capsules) approved by the US FDA available in the United States as an adjunct to diet to reduce very high (> or = 500 mg/dL) triglyceride levels in adult patients.P-OM3 can be used with confidence by practitioners who want to provide therapeutic doses of omega-3 fatty acids in a preparation that has been documented to be both safe and effective."

And in s separate journal article, "Fish oil products containing EPA and DHA are available without a prescription, but the American Heart Association advises that therapy with EPA and DHA to lower very high triglyceride levels should be used only under a physician's care."

Dr. Myatt's Comment: One wonders why you need a doctor's care to take fish oil, since so many studies are proving it's safety even during pregnancy. Do I smell a fishy profit motive here?

References:

1.) Effects of eicosapentaenoic acid on major coronary events in hypercholesterolaemic patients (JELIS): a randomised open-label, blinded endpoint analysis. Lancet. 2007 Mar 31;369(9567):1090-8.
2.) Effects of fish-oil supplementation on myocardial fatty acids in humans.Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 May;85(5):1222-8.
3.) Dietary Fatty Acids and Colorectal Cancer: A Case-Control Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2007 May 9; [Epub ahead of print].
4.) Dietary fatty acids and the 5-year incidence of age-related maculopathy. Arch Ophthalmol. 2006 Jul;124(7):981-6.
5.) Maternal supplementation with very-long-chain n-3 fatty acids during pregnancy and lactation augments children's IQ at 4 years of age.Pediatrics. 2003 Jan;111(1):e39-44.
6.) Cognitive assessment at 21/2 years following fish oil supplementation in pregnancy: a randomized controlled trial. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2006 Dec 21.
7.) Randomized trial of weight-loss-diets for young adults varying in fish and fish oil content. Int J Obes (Lond). 2007 May 15; [Epub ahead of print]
8.) Role of prescription omega-3 fatty acids in the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia. Pharmacotherapy. 2007 May;27(5):715-28.
9.) Differentiating prescription omega-3-acid ethyl esters (P-OM3) from dietary-supplement omega-3 fatty acids. Curr Med Res Opin. 2007 May;23(5):1139-45.