The following story comes from MSNBC:
DALLAS – A diet with liberal servings of fish, nuts and seeds rich in nutrients called omega-3 fatty acids can help lower a person’s blood pressure, according to a study.
“A large percentage of people between ages 20 and 60 have a rise in blood pressure, and by middle age many have high blood pressure,” said Dr. Jeremiah Stamler, professor emeritus of preventive medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, who worked on the study.
“We’re looking at dietary factors that may help prevent that rise, and omega-3 fatty acids are a small, but important piece of the action,” Stamler said.
The study looked at diet and its relation to blood pressure in 4,680 men and women, ages 40 to 59, who lived in Japan, China, Britain and the United States.
They all provided in-depth details about their diets and alcohol consumption, gave urine samples and had their blood pressure measured twice at each of four study visits.
Researchers then adjusted for 17 variables known to influence blood pressure such as age, gender, weight, salt intake and exercise.
The people who ate diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids had slightly lower blood pressure, on average, than people who ate diets with less of the nutrient, the researchers reported in the American Heart Association Journal Circulation.
“With blood pressure, every millimeter counts. The effect of each nutrient is apparently small but independent, so together they can add up to a substantial impact on blood pressure,” said Dr. Hirotsugu Ueshima of Shiga University of Medical Science in Otsu, Japan.
“If you can reduce blood pressure a few millimeters from eating less salt, losing a few pounds, avoiding heavy drinking, eating more vegetables, whole grains and fruits (for their fiber, minerals, vegetable protein and other nutrients) and getting more omega-3 fatty acids, then you’ve made a big difference,” Ueshima said in a statement.
When it comes to omega-3 fatty acids, not all fish or nuts are equal. Fatty fish such as trout, salmon and mackerel are rich in this crucial group of nutrients.
Walnuts, flaxseed and canola oil are also good sources of omega-3 fatty acids and people who got their omega-3s from these sources had just as much benefit as those who get them by eating fish, the study found.
Omega-3 fatty acid intake has also been linked to better brain development and a lower overall risk of cancer and heart disease.
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So, in this study, diets were measured. The everyday diet of different people. Researchers found that omega-3 in fish and nuts have an impact on blood pressure. The amount of omega-3 you get in just eating fish and nuts, however, isn’t a lot. If you ate fresh everyday, you still wouldn’t have the proper amounts of omega-3 you need. Most brands of Omega-3 that are sold recommend an intake of about 1000mg of Omega-3 daily. You don’t get that much just from eating fish.
So imagine the benefits if the people in this study were on a regular regimen of Omega-3…at 1000mg daily. The results would be different. Omega-3 reduces inflammation, bad fats lining each and every cell in our body (which improves nervous system conduction in and out of the cell), better brain function, better immune system…etc.
In Dr. Andrew Stoll’s book, Omega-3 Connection, he talks about how he had given super-doses of Omega-3 to his depressed, bipolar, and schizophrenic patients (not all 3 conditions in the same person though!) who had not responded to medication of any kind. When given Omega-3 (for a few months), they had all improved. I recommend reading this book. It’s a pretty easy read and talks a lot about the benefits of this essential fatty acid.
It’s good to hear that ‘modern medicine’ is learning something about what chiropractors and ‘alternative’ health care providers have been telling their patients all along.
