Fish Oil Not Necessary for Heart Health

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Fish Oil Not Necessary for Heart Health

 

 

Source > http://www.drmcdougall.com/science/heart.html

 

Heart Disease Prevention

 

The McDougall Program:

 

(Diet and Lifestyle Implications):

Heart disease and strokes are not due to " any

deficiency in aspirin or fish oil " . The wisest way to

prevent tragedies from a defective blood vessel system

is to deal with the cause: your first-line therapy

should be a low-fat, no-cholesterol diet. Add to this

sensible diet both daily exercise and healthy habits,

and you will be well on your way to protection from

heart disease.

 

Current Treatment: If you do decide to take aspirin

too, you should know that small doses are just as

effective as larger doses, and cause fewer side

effects. As little as 30 mg of aspirin a day will

inactivate every platelet in your body. New platelets

must be made before any blood clotting activity

attributable to them can occur. A tablet of aspirin

for adults contains 300 mg. A tablet intended for

children, holds only 90 mg. Studies have been done

only with doses as small as one 300 mg. tablet, but

one " baby aspirin " or 1/4 of an " adult aspirin " a day

should be enough. Coated aspirin (Ecotrin) dissolves

in the small intestine, thereby avoiding irritation of

the stomach's membranes.

 

In addition to marine fish, other generous sources of

platelet- inactivating omega-3 fats are available, and

all are derived from plants, and therefore will be

cholesterol-free: walnut oil and walnuts, wheat germ

oil, rapeseed oil, soybean lecithin, soybeans and

tofu, common beans, butternuts, and certain edible

seaweeds. (But don't forget the adverse effects of

oils derived from plants.) Purslane is a vegetable

eaten extensively in Greece, where the incidence of

both heart disease and cancer is low. Purslane is the

richest source of these beneficial omega-3 fats of any

plant yet studied. Because of that happy fact, you may

find this leafy vegetable becoming a popular food item

in the United States.

 

Second-line therapy might include an aspirin tablet a

day for those people at high risk for a heart attack

or a stroke. In the form of leafy green vegetables and

beans the omega-3 fats would have few, if any,

drawbacks. I don't recommend fish oil.

 

My Recommendations:

 

Thinning the blood should be second-line therapy. Fish

fats (oils) and aspirin, if used at all, should be

thought of as second line treatment--as is true with

any medication. I prefer aspirin rather than fish oil

for almost all patients because it has fewer side

effects and costs less.

 

Your primary approach is to take advantage of every

benefit that comes from correcting your diet and

lifestyle, first. Controlling self-destructive

behavior is not a " quick-easy fix. " But dealing with

the cause of your health problems is the only sure way

to reach a cure. For a complete discussion of

cholesterol and heart disease see " The McDougall

Program for a Healthy Heart " Dutton 1996 in your

bookstores or order through our home page.

 

DO NOT TAKE THIS INFORMATION AS PERSONAL MEDICAL

ADVICE. DO NOT CHANGE YOUR DIET, IF YOU ARE ILL, OR

MEDICATION WITHOUT THE ADVICE OF A QUALIFIED HEALTH

CARE PROVIDER (YOUR PHYSICIAN, FOR EXAMPLE). MORE

DETAILED INFORMATION IS FOUND IN THE MCDOUGALL

PROGRAM--12 DAYS TO DYNAMIC HEALTH (PLUME 1990), IN

YOUR BOOKSTORE OR CALL (800) 570-1654 TO ORDER BOOKS

 

 

Back.

 

 

 

 

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REFERENCES

 

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Antiplatelet Trialists' Collaboration. Secondary

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Orme, M. Aspirin all round? Br Med J 296:307, 1988

 

Yetiv, J. Clinical applications of fish oils. JAMA

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Glomset, J. Fish, fatty acids, and human health. N

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Harris, W. Effects of a low saturated fat, low

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Glauber, H. Adverse metabolic effect of omega-3 fatty

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Weiner, M. Cholesterol in foods rich in omega-3 fatty

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Simopoulos, A. Purslane: a terrestrial source of

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Hopkins, G. Polyunsaturated fatty acids as promoters

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rats by 7,12-Dimethylbenz[a]anthracene. JNCI 66:517,

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Foran, J. Increased fish consumption may be risky

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Olsen, S. Intake of marine fat, rich in

(n-3)-polyunsaturated fatty acids, may increase birth

weight by prolonging gestation. Lancet 2:367, 1986.

 

Barnard, R. Effects of a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet

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Saunders, T. Dietary fat and platelet function. Clin

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Meade, T. Hypercoagulability and ischemic heart

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