Eating fish regularly lowers risk to heart

guido · Site Admin Joined: Oct 18, 2004 Posts: 381 Location: Italy

Eating fish on a regular basis is linked with substantially lower levels of inflammation in the body, according to the largest study yet to find such a benefit.

The study also found that the fish could be small, lean varieties and did not have to be fatty, cold-water species such as salmon, which contain the highest amounts of omega-3 fatty acids.

The study, which involved more than 3,000 Greek men and women with an average age of about 45, used blood samples to measure levels of a variety of substances such as C-reactive protein that indicate the level of inflammation in the body.

Those who ate at least 10.5 ounces of fish a week had as much as 33 percent lower levels of the various inflammatory substances, compared with those who ate no fish. Those who ate between 5.3 and 10.5 ounces a week also had less inflammation.

C-reactive protein and other markers of inflammation have been associated with heart disease, heart attacks and stroke. The substances are believed to play an important role in the buildup of unstable plaques inside blood vessels.

The study, which ran in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, also looked at levels of omega-3 fats and determined that the optimal level for reducing inflammation was 0.6 grams a day, the amount that might be found in one or two fish oil capsules or the amount found in slightly less than 2 ounces in a mixed variety of fish.
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