Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA) Found to Reduce Risk of Heart Attack

by | Sep 4, 2008 | 2008, Cardiovascular Health, Heart Attack, Omega - 3

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Compared to those with the lowest intake of alpha linolenic acid (1 gram per day), those with the highest intake of ALA (2.7 grams per day) had a 39% reduced risk of a heart attack.

According to the American Heart Association, heart attacks caused 451,326 deaths in 2004 (1 of every 5 deaths) with 1.2 million new or repeat heart attacks occurring every year. More than 16 million Americans currently suffer from angina (chest pain due to coronary heart disease) or have had a heart attack (1). Finally, about 7.9 million Americans aged 20 and older have survived a heart attack (2).

A recent study (3) has found that alpha linolenic acid (ALA) may be a viable alternative to fish oils (4) in reducing the risk of heart attack. ALA is an omega-3 fatty acid found in vegetable cooking oils such as soybean and canola oils, and other products of plant origin.

In the study, over 1800 patients living in Costa Rica completed a 135-item food questionnaire (5), providing information on their fatty acid intake from Costa Rican food staples, including rice, beans, bread, plantains, and eggs. They also completed a questionnaire on their physical activity (6) and provided tissue samples that were measured for have fatty acid levels.

The researchers found that compared to those with the lowest intake of ALA (1 gram per day), those with the highest intake of ALA (2.7 grams per day) had a 39% reduced risk of a heart attack. Because ALA has been suggested to be a replacement for fish oil, the researchers looked at whether ALA in those with low fish intake still had reduced risks of a heart attack. They found that those in the highest one-third of ALA intake had a 50% lower heart attack risk among those with the lowest fish intake (3.3 grams of fish per day), a 52% lower risk among those in the middle one-third of fish intake (13.4 grams of fish per day), and a 55% lower risk among those with the highest fish intake (32.4 grams per day).

These results are confirmed by previous research (7) showing the protective effect of a Mediterranean diet rich in ALA against the risk of heart attack. They also suggest the anti-inflammatory properties of ALA as a reason for this protective effect (8,9) though this has been doubted in other research (10, 11). For the researchers, “it is possible that consumption of vegetable oils rich in alpha-linolenic acid could confer important cardiovascular protection in many countries where intake is low.”

Source: Campos, Hannia, Ana Baylin, and Walter C. Willett. “α-Linolenic acid and risk of nonfatal acute myocardial infarction.” Circulation 118, no. 4 (2008): 339-345.

© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.

Posted September 4, 2008.

References:

  1. “Heart Attack and Angina Statistics” posted on the American Heart Association website.
  2. “Know the Facts: 2007” posted on the American Heart Association website.
  3. Campos H.  Alpha-Linolenic Acid and Risk of Nonfatal Acute Myocardial Infarction.  Circulation. 2008;118:339-345; published online before print July 7 2008, doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.107.762419.
  4. Harris WS. Alpha-linolenic acid: a gift from the land? Circulation. 2005; 111: 2872–2874.
  5. Kabagambe EK, Baylin A, Allan DA, Siles X, Spiegelman D, Campos H. Application of the method of triads to evaluate the performance of food frequency questionnaires and biomarkers as indicators of long-term dietary intake. Am J Epidemiol. 2001; 154: 1126–1135.
  6. Campos H, Siles X. Siesta and the risk of coronary heart disease: results from a population-based, case-control study in Costa Rica. Int J Epidemiol. 2000; 29: 429–437.
  7. de Lorgeril M, Salen P, Martin JL, Monjaud I, Delaye J, Mamelle N. Mediterranean diet, traditional risk factors, and the rate of cardiovascular complications after myocardial infarction: final report of the Lyon Diet Heart Study. Circulation. 1999; 99: 779–785.
  8. Ferrucci L, Cherubini A, Bandinelli S, Bartali B, Corsi A, Lauretani F, Martin A, Andres-Lacueva C, Senin U, Guralnik JM. Relationship of plasma polyunsaturated fatty acids to circulating inflammatory markers. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2006; 91: 439–446.
  9. Lopez-Garcia E, Schulze MB, Manson JE, Meigs JB, Albert CM, Rifai N, Willett WC, Hu FB. Consumption of (n-3) fatty acids is related to plasma biomarkers of inflammation and endothelial activation in women. J Nutr. 2004; 134: 1806–1811.
  10. Pischon T, Hankinson SE, Hotamisligil GS, Rifai N, Willett WC, Rimm EB. Habitual dietary intake of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids in relation to inflammatory markers among US men and women. Circulation. 2003; 108: 155–160.
  11. Goyens PL, Spilker ME, Zock PL, Katan MB, Mensink RP. Conversion of alpha-linolenic acid in humans is influenced by the absolute amounts of alpha-linolenic acid and linoleic acid in the diet and not by their ratio. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006; 84: 44–53.