Lee Swanson Research Update

Omega-3 Fatty Acids Help Promote Healthy Heart Rhythms

September 2007

A diet rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids from fish has beneficial effects on heart rhythms and may offer protection against fatal abnormal heart rhythms, a study conducted in Greece suggests.

The new study, led by Christine Chrysohoou from the University of Athens, extends previous research on fish oil and its high content of omega-3 fatty acids and heart health. It concludes that fish consumption is linked to an improvement of the electrical properties of heart cells.

“Long-term consumption of fish is associated with lower QT interval in free-eating people without any evidence of cardiovascular disease. Thus, fish intake seems to provide anti-arrhythmic protection at a population level,” wrote the authors in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The QT interval is a measure of the heartÂ’s electrical cycle and is defined as the time between the start of the Q wave and the end of the T wave.

The researchers enrolled 3,042 people (1,514 men and 1,528 women) with an average age of 45. The diets were evaluated using a self-administered, validated food frequency questionnaire. Daily or weekly intake of 156 different foods was recorded, along with alcohol consumption and physical activity.

Chrysohoou and co-workers report that people who ate more than 300 grams of fish per week had significantly lower QT scores (13.6%) than people who did not eat fish. After adjusting the results for various confounding factors such as age, sex, physical activity status, BMI, smoking habits and intake of nuts, the reduction in QT associated with high fish consumption rose to 29.2% compared to non-consumers.

Lower QT scores indicate a lower resting heart rate. Other studies have linked a higher resting heart rate to an increased risk of sudden death, and so lowering the heart rate is a significant health benefit.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 85(5):1385-1391, 2007

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