Fish Oil Quickly Incorporated Into Heart Muscle

From -
http://www.herbalremedies.com/mental-focus-news1.html#2


Study Shows Fish Oil Quickly Incorporated Into Heart Muscle

By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, July 2, 2007, abstracted from “Effects of fish-oil supplementation on myocardial fatty acids in humans“ in the July 2007 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Fish oil’s positive effects on health are profound. While shown to help with eye health ,(1) back health,2 blood vessel health,(3) and brain health ,(4) fish oil’s best-known benefits seem to be or heart health .(4)

Now a new study(5) has found that omega-3 fatty acids in the form of fish oil are able to promote these heart healthy effects because they are quickly incorporated into heart muscle and replace archidonic acid which increases inflammation .

In the study, 84 patients scheduled for heart surgery were put in one of six groups:

Group 1: No supplement
Group 2: Fish oil (6 g EPA/DHA per day) for 7 days before surgery
Group 3: Fish oil (6 g EPA/DHA per day) for 14 days before surgery
Group 4: Fish oil (6 g EPA/DHA per day) for 21 days before surgery
Group 5: Flaxseed oil (10 mL per day for 21 days before surgery
Group 6: Olive oil (10 mL per day for 21 days before surgery

During surgery, researchers obtained a piece of heart muscle that was subsequently analyzed for fatty acid content.

The researchers found that those in the fish-oil group had an accumulation of EPA and DHA and displaced mainly arachidonic acid. Specifically, omega-3 fatty acid levels in the heart muscle nearly doubled while arachidonic acid levels were cut nearly in half. Those in flaxseed oil group yielded “a small increase” in atrial EPA but not DHA, and those in the olive oil group had no significant change in omega-3 fatty acid levels.

For the researchers, “The results of the present study show that dietary omega-3 fatty acids are rapidly incorporated into human [heart muscle membranes] at the expense of arachidonic acid during high-dose fish oil supplementation.”

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at mailto:ChiroDocPSUalum@msn.com or visiting his web site at
http://www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com


Reference:

1 Bazan NG. Cell survival matters: docosahexaenoic acid signaling, neuroprotection and photoreceptors. Trends in Neuroscience. In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 3 April 2006

2 Maroon JC. ù-3 Fatty acids (fish oil) as an anti-inflammatory: an alternative to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for discogenic pain. Surgical Neurology 2006; 65(4): 326-331

3 Carrero JJ. Daily Supplementation with (n-3) PUFAs, Oleic Acid, Folic Acid, and Vitamins B-6 and E Increases Pain-Free Walking Distance and Improves Risk Factors in Men with Peripheral Vascular Disease. J Nutr. 2005; 135 1393-1399

4 Wurtman RJ. Synaptic proteins and phospholipids are increased in gerbil brain by administering uridine plus docosahexaenoic acid orally. In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 21 April 2006 in Brain Research

5 Metcalf RG. Effects of fish-oil supplementation on myocardial fatty acids in humans. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 May;85(5):1222-8
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