Chitika

Chitika

fredag 27 november 2009

Is There An Omega 3 Blood Pressure Link, Or Can Fish Oil Lower Blood Pressure?

By Peter Bertonach

The heart health benefits of an increased intake of the essential fatty acids known as omega 3 fatty acids found in fish oil are now well established. The American Heart Association tells each of us to increase our intake of Omega3 fats up to the minimum recommended level to reduce our risk of coronary heart disease. But let's examine whether there is a fish oil blood pressure link, or whether, if you have high blood pressure you can lower blood pressure with fish oil.

High blood pressure is called hypertension and effects very many people. People who are overweight have a higher risk of hypertension and some of these people may spend many years on drugs designed to reduce hypertension. If there is an omega 3 blood pressure link this is good news for many people.

And it is good news. There are clear studies demonstrating a link between increasing Omega3 intake and lowering blood pressure. One study examining this split 120 people into 5 groups and supplemented their diet with a combination of fish and fish oil and placebos. The conclusion of the study was that increasing the intake of omega 3 fatty acids found in fish oil helped to lower blood pressure.

DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) are the 2 primary essential fatty acids known as omega 3 fats. A further study narrowed down the cause and effect and isolated DHA as the principle cause of this reduction in blood pressure.

People who are overweight have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and hypertension. Another study examined lowering hypertension with omega3 in overweight people. Again this study found a clear link between increasing intake of essential fatty acids and lowering blood pressure, including amongst overweight people, and concluded that increasing the intake of fishoil with omega 3 essential fatty acids can help reduce hypertension and when taken in conjunction with a weight-loss regime in people who are already taking antihypertensive drugs can "substantially" reduce their dependence on those drugs.

There is a wide range of health benefits from increasing your intake of omega 3 and these benefits now extend to lowering hyperension. However there are sufficient heart and health benefits from increasing your intake of omega 3 fatty acids that even those with no incidence of hypertension have a wide range of health benefits available to them from increasing fish oil intake. This includes reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease as well as increasing mental acuity and memory and reducing the risk of a range of age related diseases, and more.

There is now clear scientific evidence about the heart benefits of Omega3 fats and the American Heart Association is taking this on board and recommends a minimum intake of these fats for everyone. And as over 90 percent of the US population are deficient in Omega3 intake we should take notice, particularly anyone with hypertension.

Clearly there is an omega 3 blood pressure link. Increasing your intake of Omega3 fats will help lower blood pressure and may also help lower your reliance on antihypertensive drugs.

But how do you effectively increase your intake of Omega3 fats? There are problems with eating fish because fish is expensive and is generally contaminated with mercury and for this reason the FDA tells us not to eat too much fish.

But it is perfectly adequate and indeed preferable, and very cost effective to take daily omega 3 supplements, and the best ones are contamination free, though there is a wide variation in the quality of the different brands.

I take fish oil capsules myself and ensure my family does as well. To find out which ones visit my website.

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