Are omega-3 fatty acids beneficial for all people?
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Dr. Dean Ornish answered:Like many wonderful things in life, there is also a dark side to the omega-3 fatty acids. A recent British Medical Journal analysis of nearly 100 studies of omega-3 fatty acids found mixed benefits. In most people they were beneficial, but not in everyone. Some people actually got worse.
When Dr. Alexander Leaf (Harvard School of Public Health) first learned of these puzzling findings, he thought they were a little, well, fishy. But after reviewing the data from his studies and others and communicating with other investigators, he identified a subgroup of people who actually got worse when they consumed omega-3 fatty acids: those with congestive heart failure or chronic recurrent angina (chest pain) due to insufficient blood flow to their heart. Dr. Leaf wrote in the scientific journal Fundamental & Clinical Pharmacology, “Any patient with an advanced state of impaired cardiac function should not be prescribed fish oil fatty acids or be urged to eat fish.” As he told me in a telephone conversation, “For these people, it may kill them.”
Find out more about this book: The Spectrum: A Scientifically Proven Program to Feel Better, Live Longer,...
Like many wonderful things in life, there is also a dark side to the omega-3 fatty acids. A recent British Medical Journal analysis of nearly 100 studies of omega-3 fatty acids found mixed benefits. In most people they were beneficial, but not in... More
