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18/02/2004
Healthy Living - Senior Life - Though we may be a little suspicious at the sound of it, it seems the scientific community is reasonably convinced that the way to a healthy heart is to eat oily fish.
Though we may be a little suspicious at the sound of it, it seems the scientific community is reasonably convinced that the way to a healthy heart is to eat oily fish.
For some time DHA - an omega-3 fatty acid existing naturally in oily swimmers such as tuna - has been known to improve blood fat levels and reduce the build-up of plaque in the arteries.
But now new Australian research has shown that DHA has a specific and unique role in improving the condition and functioning of the heart muscle itself.
Associate Professor Peter McLennan, director of the Smart Food Centre at the University of Wollongong, said it had been suspected that DHA played a special role in the heart but, until now, no one knew exactly what that role was.
"Our experiments show that DHA can help prevent the occurrence of sudden heart attack and also reduce the incidence of death if and when a heart attack doe occur," Professor McLennan said.
The Wollongong team has shown that increasing DHA in the diet will prevent fatal arrhythmias (irregular heart rhythms), which actually cause death during a heart attack.
When Professor McLennan began working on nutrition and heart disease in the 1980's, he and colleagues found that DHA was the main omega-3 fatty acid in heart cell membranes and began studying the effects of altering dietary intake.
Experiments showed that adequate levels of DHA enabled the heart to require less oxygen and to pump more efficiently, while also reducing the average heart rate. The result was a stronger heart, which had greater reserve capacity to deal with increased stresses and pressures.
Increased DHA intake brought improvement in several forms of heart failure, including that arising from high blood pressure, diabetes, enlarged heart and damage from heart attack.
Although his work has largely been carried out on animal hearts, overseas studies support a benefit to humans.
An Italian study added high DHA fish oil to the diets of 11,000 heart attack victims and found the risk of a second heart attack was reduced by 45 per cent.
US research has suggested that as little as one meal of salmon or tuna a week could halve the risk of heart attacking people who had no history of heart disease.
Dietitian Wendy Morgan said our intake of fish, eggs, offal and full cream dairy products had decreased in recent times.
"Because the body can't efficiently manufacture or store omega-3 DHA, we need to ensure we are eating sufficient foods rich in DHA regularly every week," she said.
A growing range of foods is being enhanced from DHA derived from tuna oil, including bread and muffins, infant formulas, orange juice and milk.
One important breakthrough in the technology was to find a way to add the DHA to foods without adding the fishy taste and smell.
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