Study Recommends Dose of Omega-3 Fats for Heart Health

by | Sep 24, 2009 | 2009, Cardiovascular Health, Fish Oil Supplements

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Study found that 900 mg of EPA and DHA per day offered a statistically significant benefit by decreasing death from heart failure by 9% and death from cardiovascular disease by 8% in 3,500 patients.

Omega-3 fatty acids have been found to be valuable for heart health. Fish oil consumption has been shown to help decrease the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack (1), sudden cardiac death (2), coronary heart disease (3), atrial fibrillation (4), and death in patients with heart failure (5). Cardiovascular disease accounts for more than one-third (35.3%) of all U.S. deaths and is expected to be more than $475 billion in 2009 (6).

The American Heart Association (AHA) currently recommends 1 gram of omega-3 fats per day through either fish consumption or fish oil supplements for patients diagnosed with heart disease (7). Now a new study (8) has recommended half that amount for patients without heart disease.

In the study, researchers reviewed studies on heart conditions, including heart disease, cardiovascular disease, irregular heartbeat, and heart failure. The researchers cited “promising results” in 868 patients (9, 10) showing higher blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids to have less blood vessel wall thickness which is the starting points for atherosclerosis (11). For irregular heartbeat, research found significant improvements in 18 patients at doses from 810 mg per day (12) to 1,260 mg per day of EPA and DHA in 84 patients (13). Finally, research on heart failure has shown nearly 900 mg of EPA and DHA per day to have “a statistically significant benefit” of omega-3 fats by decreasing mortality from heart failure by 9% and mortality from cardiovascular disease by 8% in nearly 3,500 patients (14).

When looking at these results and the American Heart Association’s recommendation of two oily fish meals per week for those without any cardiovascular disease (which provides roughly 500 mg per day of EPA and DHA) (15), the researchers concluded that “target EPA + DHA consumption should be at least 500 mg per day for individuals without…cardiovascular disease and at least 800 to 1,000 mg per day for individuals with known coronary heart disease and heart failure.”

Source: Lavie, Carl J., et al. “Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and cardiovascular diseases.” Journal of the American College of Cardiology 54.7 (2009): 585-594.

Copyright © 2009 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Posted September 24, 2009.

References:

  1. J.H. Lee, J.H. O’Keefe, C.J. Lavie, R. Marchioli and W.S. Harris, Omega-3 fatty acids for cardioprotection, Mayo Clin Proc 83 (2008), pp. 324–332
  2.  C.M. Albert, C.H. Hennekens and C.J. O’Donnell et al., Fish consumption and risk of sudden cardiac death, JAMA 279 (1998), pp. 23–28.
  3. Dietary supplementation with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E after myocardial infarction: results of the GISSI-Prevenzione trial Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nell’Infarto miocardico [errata in Lancet 2001;357:642 and Lancet 2007;369:106], Lancet 354 (1999), pp. 447–455.
  4. M. Yokoyama, H. Origasa and M. Matsuzaki et al., Effects of eicosapentaenoic acid on major coronary events in hypercholesterolaemic patients (JELIS): a randomised open-label, blinded endpoint analysis [published correction appears in Lancet 2007;370:220], Lancet 369 (2007), pp. 1090–1098.
  5. GISSI-HF Investigators, Effect of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in patients with chronic heart failure (the GISSI-HF trial): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, Lancet 372 (2008), pp. 1223–1230.
  6. “Cardiovascular Disease at a Glance” posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
  7. P.M. Kris-Etherton, W.S. Harris, L.J. Appel and American Heart Association Nutrition Committee, Fish consumption, fish oil, omega-3 fatty acids, and cardiovascular disease [published correction appears in Circulation 2003;107:512], Circulation 106 (2002), pp. 2747–2757.
  8. Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Cardiovascular Diseases.  Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2009; 54:585-594.
  9. H. William, Omega-3 fatty acids: the “Japanese” factor?, J Am Coll Cardiol 52 (2008), pp. 425–427.
  10. A. Seikikawa, J.D. Curb and H. Ueshima, Marine-derived n-3 fatty acids and atherosclerosis in Japanese, Japanese-American, and white men: a cross-sectional study, J Am Coll Cardiol 52 (2008), pp. 417–424.
  11. “Atherosclerosis” posted on the American Heart Association website.
  12. O’Keefe Jr. JH.  Effects of omega-3 fatty acids on resting heart rate, heart rate recovery after exercise, and heart rate viability in men with healed myocardial infarctions and depressed ejection fractions, Am J Cardiol 97 (2006), pp. 1127–1130.
  13. Geelen A.   Effects of n-3 fatty acids from fish on premature ventricular complexes and heart rate in humans, Am J Clin Nutr 81 (2005), pp. 416–420.
  14. GISSI-HF Investigators, Effect of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in patients with chronic heart failure (the GISSI-HF trial): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, Lancet 372 (2008), pp. 1223–1230.
  15. W.S. Harris, P.M. Kris-Etherton and K.A. Harris, Intakes of long-chain omega-3 fatty acid associated with reduced risk for death from coronary heart disease in healthy adults, Curr Atheroscler Rep 10 (2008), pp. 503–509.