Supplements & functional ingredients
At the same time, Liu describes a situation whereby popular conceptions about omega-3 sit awkwardly with the more cautious scientific findings. Cast your mind back to those ‘Heart Health’ pills and it’s easy to see what he means.
The research in a nutshell
While the academic consensus around omega-3 and how precisely it impacts the heart remains distant, exciting developments continue. Liu himself is at the centre of these developments, most recently contributing to a new paper in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The impressively comprehensive study included 884 intervention trials across 883,627 individuals, which Liu describes as “by far the most comprehensive” meta-analysis so far. The results, for their part, are equally striking. To quote the article directly, the scientists altogether found that omega-3 offered “moderate to high-quality evidence for reducing CVD risk factors”. Even better, omega-3 helped cut the mortality rate of people who did suffer CVD, as well as heart attacks and strokes. However, while this latest bout of research is an optimistic step forward, it hardly closes the topic entirely. That’s obvious enough if you examine the details of Liu’s paper. Apart from studying omega-3, the team also explored the impact of a wide range of other nutrients. Encompassing everything from magnesium to zinc to melatonin, it’s clear that the heart is too complex a mechanism to be linked entirely to a single supplement – even one as powerful as omega-3s.
Calder agrees, as he puts it: “We know what a bad diet is, and we know what a good diet is. And we know that omega-3s aren’t the only difference between them.” From sugar to salt, Calder continues, a range of ingredients can theoretically impact an individual’s heart health. By the time you add other variables, like exercise and someone’s economic conditions, it can be hard to pinpoint exactly what omega-3 is doing – even if the consensus is it’s basically good. There’s a similar question to do with consumption more specifically: how should you ingest omega-3s? This is far from a pointless question. After all, if someone is getting their fatty acids from salmon or sardines, their CVD risk might be reduced by a range of different minerals, or at least the way in which omega-3 and the others interact, rather than by omega-3 alone. It’s precisely for that reason, indeed, that Calder is such a proponent of eating fish. “Personally,” he says, “I think eating fish is superior to taking supplements.” Liu, for his part, takes a slightly more emollient tone. “I see the two as complementary,”
Ingredients Insight /
www.ingredients-insight.com
Something’s fishy about omega-3 Regardless of where you stand on the eternal debate of delivery method, it’s surely true that eating more fish would be good for you – both in terms of omega-3 and a host of other chemicals. Yet, with a few honourable exceptions, notably Japan and around the Mediterranean, the modern Western diet is depressingly lacking in seafood. As so often, the statistics are revealing here, with one 2019 survey finding only a third of UK consumers eat the recommended two portions of fish per week. It’s a surprising statistic, notes Calder, given the UK is an island nation and historical figures as far back as Elizabeth I were concerned with eating too much fish. The solution, Calder suggests, involves a thoroughgoing transformation of how societies like Britain think about their natural bounty. That’s shadowed, he adds, by a re-evaluation of what supplements should be used for. He argues there’s a risk that, by relying on supposed miracle cures like omega-3, some may ignore other parts of their diet – with potentially fatal consequences for their hearts.
“We know what a bad diet is, and we know what a good diet is. And we know that omega- 3s aren’t the only difference between them.” Professor Philip Calder
Not that the future necessarily involves a nation of anglers. As Liu warns, for all the clear benefits of fish, scientists must also thoroughly investigate the potential downsides of fish seafood, not least when it comes to the presence of mercury and other heavy metals.
If research continues to make a conclusive link between omega-3 and heart health, Calder is equally excited about the possibilities the nutrient could offer in other areas of medicine, especially in fighting cognitive diseases like dementia. That’s echoed, Calder continues, by increased interest around exploiting alternative sources of omega-3, particularly seaweed. It seems clear, at any rate, that the fascination with these fatty acids will long continue – even if the question of heart health is finally put to bed. ●
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he argues. “It depends on the context and the individuals and populations targeted for interventions. For individuals with suboptimal diets or an older person who [could be] vulnerable to micronutrient deficiency, moderate micronutrient supplements may help to reduce the cardiovascular risk.”
$4.76bn
The estimated global worth of the omega-3 industry by 2029.
Data Bridge Market Research
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