Unless you eat fish as much as the proverbial “old man in the sea,” I strongly recommend you take a daily fish oil supplement. Especially if you have any of the risk factors associated with heart disease, such as high triglycerides (blood fats). This simple change may make all the difference for your health and longevity, according to a recent study.
Of course, for decades, the mainstream has questioned — and even bashed — the idea of taking fish oil supplements to support heart health. And they’ve always pointed to the same small, inadequate, poorly designed studies that failed to find any benefits. But there’s an obvious reason for that apparent lack of benefit…
The dose they used in those studies was ridiculously low, and nowhere near a therapeutic level.
Remember, it’s important to take fish oil supplements that contain as many omega-3s as what you’d get by eating a healthy serving of fatty fish — like salmon.
But most fish oil supplements found on store shelves don’t contain that many omega-3s. So, they’re woefully inadequate to prevent — much less reverse — heart disease. And it explains why all those old studies failed to find any heart benefit for taking fish oil.
Thankfully, some scientists are beginning to figure out that men and women need much higher doses of purified fish oil to prevent heart problems and death. Especially men and women already at risk for developing heart disease, as a new study shows…
Fish oil curbs risk after just five years
In this new study, researchers divided more than 8,000 patients with high levels of triglycerides — and other heart disease risk factors — into two groups.
The first group took a cholesterol-lowering statin drug along with 4 grams (4,000 mg) of a prescription fish oil supplement daily for five years. The second group took a statin along with a placebo mineral oil supplement.
Of course, I never recommend taking a toxic statin drug. Yes, they lower cholesterol. But over the years, study after study has shown that they do nothing to lower the rate of heart attack or death — the ultimate litmus test for any treatment. So, even though the participants in this study took statins, we should assume that they had no effect on those serious outcomes — based on the results of previous research.
However, this new study did give us some clear answers about the role of fish oil, apart from statin use…
Fish oil supplementation reduces heart event risk
After five years, 22 percent of the patients taking the statin and the placebo suffered a heart attack, stroke, clogged arteries, or death. By comparison, just 17 percent of the patients taking a statin plus fish oil suffered one of these serious outcomes. Which represents an impressive 25 percent reduction in risk of suffering a cardiac event!
Plus, when you break these statistics down to look at actual people, it means only 21 people would need to take fish oil for five years to prevent one of these very serious, deadly outcomes.
Big pharma and its lackeys like to break down statistical results in this way, too…usually as a way of making drugs studied appear more effective when their results are poor.
Of course, when you break down the data on statins, the numbers still aren’t so good. In fact, it takes a lot more
Still, as I said, this study came away with some meaningful results. But what I’d really like to see is a study using those higher dosages of fish oil — with no statins.
But you can’t find enough heart patients, or people with “risk factors” for heart disease, who aren’t already taking a statin — at least in the U.S.
That’s why the best studies on fish oil come from other countries, such as Sweden, France, and the U.K.
So — what does all of this mean for you?
Simple ways to get more fish oil into your diet
For one, make sure you take a fish oil supplement based on your fish consumption. And I recently upped my recommended dosages. So, make sure you know how much is right for you.
Second, make sure you choose a high-quality fish oil supplement, as there are a lot of terrible brands out that contain mercury and other harmful substances. You can learn how to spot the real deal in the October 2013 issue of my Insiders’ Cures newsletter (“Science caught ‘sleeping with the fishes’”). And if you’re not yet a subscriber, simply click here to get started.
Third, make sure to enjoy plenty of fresh fish and seafood in 2019 and the years ahead. It may make all the difference in preventing — and reversing — heart disease.
Of course, there are many natural approaches to prevent cardiovascular issues and bolster heart health, in addition to omega-3s. And you can learn all about them in my online learning tool, Dr. Micozzi’s Heart Attack Prevention & Repair Protocol. Click here for more information or to enroll today.
Source:
“Cardiovascular Risk Reduction with Icosapent Ethyl for Hypertriglyceridemia,” New England Journal of Medicine 2019; 380:11-22 d