Supplements & functional ingredients
While the research may remain inconclusive on omega-3, most scientists can agree on the many benefits of eating a fish-rich diet.
In the US, to give one example, an estimated 8% of adults actively take omega-3 in some form. Yet if the packaging says it can fight a bewildering range of ailments, there’s one area where the seduction of omega-3 remains unmatched: heart health. This appears to be the result of a certain American company, whose product is proudly called ‘Heart Health’ and tells readers in capital letters that it’s designed for ‘cardiovascular maintenance’.
“It is important for individuals with cardio vascular disease (CVD) to have adequate omega-3 intake, either from foods or supplements, to improve cardiovascular health.” Professor Simin Liu
Of course, the particular allure of cardiovascular health isn’t difficult to understand. According to the WHO, 16% of all deaths worldwide are due to heart disease, meaning anything that offers to keep users safe is bound to be popular. Explore the specifics, however, and the situation soon becomes less straightforward – something even the manufacturers of ‘Heart Health’ are obliged to admit. Turn the box over and you’ll see a disclaimer noting its claim of ‘cardiovascular maintenance’ hasn’t actually been evaluated by the FDA.
That concession, in turn, hints at a broader truth: despite being recommended for some 50 years, what omega-3s can do for heart health remains uncertain. And beyond the fundamentals, other problems persist too. What form, for instance, is the best way to take omega-3? How does it interact with other nutrients to keep the body safe? None of these questions necessarily have simple answers – even as new research promises to offer exciting new insights.
14
The heart of the matter
Arguments around the precise link between omega-3 and heart health have been raging for decades. Since the first flush of optimism in the 1970s, when a team of Danish scientists uncovered the probable benefits of the fats among the natives of Greenland, Philip Calder says that “the pendulum has swung one way and another many times” over recent years.
Listen to the University of Southampton professor
and it’s hard to disagree. Through the 1980s and 1990s, for example, Calder describes how a range of studies investigated whether measures like lipids and blood pressure could positively be linked to omega-3. Many researchers concluded that fatty acids could indeed keep blood pressure low, and along the way cut the risk of heart disease. From there, scientists moved on to look at people who had already suffered a heart attack, with one Italian study known as ‘GISSI-Prevenzione’ suggesting omega-3 could reduce the danger of having a second cardiovascular episode. More recent attempts to replicate that famous 2001 project have failed, with one suggestion being new drugs like statins have made it hard to repeat experiences precisely. To put it another way, the scientific evidence remains distinctly muddled – even if Calder is eager to emphasise that the broad links between omega-3s to heart health “is still robust”. Nor is he alone in coming to a basically positive conclusion on decades of work. “It is important for individuals with cardiovascular disease (CVD) to have adequate omega-3 intake, either from foods or supplements, to improve cardiovascular health,” emphasises Simin Liu, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at Brown University. “New observational studies generally support the notion that a higher intake of fish reduces cardiovascular disease risks.”
Ingredients Insight /
www.ingredients-insight.com
Jakub Rutkiewicz/
Shutterstock.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90
