Omega 3 - no major health benefits

ryancostill · #1 03-28-2006, 08:22 AM

Here is a recent meta-analysis by a group of British researchers which has just been published in the British Journal of Medicine. Their conculsion? Long chain and shorter chain omega 3 fats do not have a clear effect on total mortality, combined cardiovascular events, or cancer.

I see a couple of methodological flaws with this study, which can be found here:

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/rapidpdf/...ourcetype=HWCIT

But I thought i would open the topic to discussion first.

stillflabby · #2 03-28-2006, 02:55 PM

thanks for the link.
I've heard about this, but hadn't found an article discussing it.

BTW, that comes up as a PDF, and PDF sometimes creates issues for browsers.

Mine just froze for a while, then came back.

ryancostill · #3 03-28-2006, 03:17 PM

Yes it is a pdf document, most journal articles are usually hosted online in this format.

You might want to select the "begin manual download" option.

Right click on it and "save target as". This may avoid any stalling problems, although if your PC has adobe reader I dont see any reasons you should have problems.

Venom · #4 03-29-2006, 08:31 AM

Sweet! This has a lot of intrest to me. I cannot wait to check this out when I get a chance.

ryancostill · #5 03-29-2006, 06:07 PM

My initial thought on this meta-analysis is that the authors have not considered the possibility of excess omega-6 fat in the diet. AS we know, excess omega-6 fats interfere with the health benefits of omega-3 fats because they compete for the same rate-limiting enzymes (i think this is discussed in abc's EFA article?).

Intaking omega 3, is only half the battle really. Omega 3 fats will provide little if any benefit if there are excessive dietary omega-6 fats in the diet.

Venom · #6 03-29-2006, 10:48 PM

Great analysis, Ryan. Yes, I discuss that in my article. I am going to look and analyze this over the weekend. FUN! [img]/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Adam Knowlden · #7 03-30-2006, 05:07 AM

lol I'm laughing because I just shot a PM to Venom with this link, asking his opinion.

ryancostill · #8 03-30-2006, 07:16 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Great analysis, Ryan. Yes, I discuss that in my article. I am going to look and analyze this over the weekend. FUN! [img]/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Look forward to it. This study got quite a bit of media attention upon its release in the UK, because some of the findings appear to go against what the public had been advised over the last couple of years.

psaturn · #9 03-30-2006, 10:28 PM

So far we have observed positive results with the usage of Omega 3 for our patients after they go through keratomileusis. The post-surgical symptoms seem to be far fewer.

stillflabby · #10 03-31-2006, 04:20 PM

[ QUOTE ]
So far we have observed positive results with the usage of Omega 3 for our patients after they go through keratomileusis. The post-surgical symptoms seem to be far fewer.

[/ QUOTE ]

wow, that's awesome