Fish oil capsules and fatty fish do an equally good
job of enriching the blood and other body tissues with
healthy omega-3 fatty acids, new findings suggest.
But the findings can't be interpreted to mean that capsules
and fish are equally good for the heart, Dr. William S.
Harris, who was involved in the research, told Reuters
Health. "There are things that can change the blood lipids
but don't do anything for the heart and vice versa," said
Harris, who is with the University of South Dakota in
Sioux Falls.
Omega-3 fatty acid consumption is recommended by the
American Heart Association and several other groups to
reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and consumption
of fatty fish and fish oil capsules have been assumed
to have similar effects, Harris and his colleagues note
in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
But there has been little research on whether the body
processes fatty acids from fish oil capsules and fish
in the same way.
To investigate, Harris and his team had 11 women eat
two servings of tuna or salmon each week, while an additional
12 women took in the same amount of omega-3s, an estimated
485 milligrams daily, in capsule form.
After 16 weeks, the amount of omega-3 fatty acids in
the red blood cells of women in both groups had risen
by 40 percent to 50 percent, while omega-3s in the plasma
(the cell-free, liquid portion of the blood) had risen
by 60 percent to 80 percent.
"We went into the project assuming that fish would be
better, based on some previous literature from other people,"
Harris noted in an interview. Based on the current findings,
he added, "it doesn't make any difference whether you
get your omega 3 fatty acids from a concentrate in a capsule
or in fish -- they have the same effect on enriching the
tissues with omega 3."
Nevertheless, Harris said, he would encourage people
to eat fish rather than relying on fish oil capsules.
"Fish of course brings with it proteins and minerals and
other factors that are good for our health that the capsules
don't bring, but we weren't able to measure any of those
things," he said.
SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, December
2007.
