If there were something you could do that would add FIVE YEARS to your life…would you do it?
What if that something cost just PENNIES and took less than 10 SECONDS of your time each day?
I hope the answer is a resounding YES!
Well, chances are, if you’ve been following my advice over the past 10 years about getting more of the potent nutrients found in fish and seafood into your diet…you’re ALREADY doing it!
Two new studies link omega-3 intake to major increases in life expectancy
I’m talking about omega-3 essential fatty acids.
Omega-3s are considered “essential” because just about every vital system in the human body requires them…yet, the body can’t make them on its own. (No wonder scientists are beginning to look at the impact of omega-3 intake on longevity!)
That’s why I always recommend adding fresh, wild-caught fish and seafood to your healthy, balanced diet…and supplementing with a high-quality fish oil.
And now, two new studies reveal yet another major benefit of doing so…
In the first study, researchers looked at the connection between the “omega-3 index” and mortality (death) rate in more than 40,000 people from around the world.
This well-known index accurately measures levels of two of the most-studied essential omega-3 fatty acids—docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)—in the red blood cells. And it’s a far more accurate and reliable indicator than relying on a food survey to gauge omega-3 intake. (By comparison, with food surveys, people may over- or underestimate their fish intake, due to difficulty remembering what they ate during the week.)
Well, it turns out that people in the study with the highest omega-3 index over a 16-year follow-up period had a 13 percent lower risk of death than those with the lowest index.
That’s significant—because it involves mortality rate…which I consider to be the ultimate litmus test for whether any treatment works.
But that’s not all…
People with the highest omega-3 index had a 15 percent lower heart disease mortality risk and an 11 percent lower cancer mortality risk, specifically, compared to those in the lowest group.
I should also note that people in this study with the highest omega-3 index had blood concentrations that ranged from about 3.5 to 7.6 percent. But previous research shows that 8 percent (which nobody in this study attained!) is actually optimal omega-3 concentration. So, the benefits seen in this study just showed the tip of the iceberg when it comes to seafood and omega-3s.
(Keep reading to learn how to achieve that optimal level!)
Now, let’s move on to the second recent study looking at the effect of omega-3s in the blood on lifespan…
Add FIVE YEARS to your life
In a similar, but smaller study, researchers used the same index to measure blood levels of omega-3s in more than 2,000 men and women in their mid-60s. (The participants were actually part of the famed Framingham Offspring Cohort, which has been monitoring the health of residents in a Massachusetts town since 1971.)
This time, researchers also used a tool called the Kaplan-Meier survival curves to predict survival rates by age. And they estimated that participants with the highest omega-3 index scores would live FIVE YEARS longer than those with the lowest scores.
That’s right…
The researchers predicted that these men and women added FIVE YEARS to their lives just by getting more omega-3s into their diet. (Which takes almost no time at all…and costs just pennies a day!)
In an interview, the lead author said, “Knowing a person’s omega-3 index is just as—if not more—important than knowing a person’s cholesterol level or blood pressure, and ‘fixing’ the omega-3 index is much easier (and cheaper and safer) than treating all those other risk factors; eat more fish and/or take an omega-3 supplement.”
And I quite agree!
So, make sure to eat wild-caught fish and seafood as often as you can…while also supplementing daily with a high-quality fish oil. You could add YEARS to your life, after all!
Just make sure to find a brand of fish oil you can trust…because the quality of fish oil is imperative. (You only get safe and effective products when the fish are properly sourced and prepared.)
And remember, when it comes to fish oil, there’s no “one-size-fits-all” dosage recommendation. The right dose for you depends entirely on how much fish you eat during the week. Other experts don’t tell you that scientific fact, but I updated it all in the April 2021 issue of my monthly newsletter, Insiders’ Cures (“Getting to the heart of the omega-3 ‘controversy’”). Not yet a subscriber? Click here to become one!
Sources:
“Blood n-3 fatty acid levels and total and cause-specific mortality from 17 prospective studies.” Nat Commun 2021; 12: 2329. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22370-2
“Using an erythrocyte fatty acid fingerprint to predict risk of all-cause mortality: the Framingham Offspring Cohort.” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2021; nqab195. doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqab195