Food For Thought: Eating Fish Reduces Risk Of Death In Older Adults

4/2/2013 2:16 AM ET

Much has been written about the cardiovascular benefits of fish consumption. But for the first time a new study has found a link between fish consumption and total mortality as well as specific causes of mortality in a general population.
According to the study from Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Washington, older adults who have higher levels of blood omega-3 levels lived an average of 2.2 years longer than those with lower levels. Note that fish is the primary dietary source of omega-3.
As part of the study, the researchers examined 16 years of data from about 2,700 U.S. adults aged 65 or older who participated in the Cardiovascular Health Study, a long-term study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. All the participants were generally healthy at baseline and the total proportion of blood omega-3 fatty acids, including three specific ones namely docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, eicosapentaenoic acid, or EPA and docosapentaenoic acid, or DPA, in their blood samples were analyzed at baseline.
Physical examinations and diagnostic testing of participants during the follow-up revealed that DHA was most strongly related to lower risk of death from coronary heart disease while DPA was most strongly associated with a lower risk of stroke death, and EPA most strongly linked to a lower risk of nonfatal heart attack.
The study found that older adults who have high blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids had a 27% lower risk of total mortality due to all causes and 35% lower mortality risk from heart disease.
An analysis of the relationship between dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids and their level in blood revealed that the steepest rise in blood levels occurred when going from very low intake to about 400 mg per day, and thereafter rising much more gradually.