Can You Lower Blood Pressure With Fish Oil?
The health benefits to your heart from increasing your intake of omega 3 essential fatty acids found in fish oil are well established and the American Heart Association now recommends a minimum intake of Omega3 fats for everyone for these reasons. These health benefits apply to such risks as cardiovascular disease, but today let’s examine whether there is a blood pressure fish oil link, or whether increasing your intake of omega 3 essential fatty acids can lower high blood pressure.
Hypertension is the technical name for high blood pressure. Hypertension affects many of us, particularly those who are overweight, and many people rely on anti-hypertensive drugs for many years. Therefore it is possible to reduce high blood pressure with fish oil this is good news.
And the good news is that there are studies showing a clear link between increasing fish oil intake and lowering blood pressure. A study of 120 people split this group into 5 subgroups and supplemented each subgroup with a combination of fish, fish oil supplements or a placebo. The conclusion was that supplementation with omega 3 essential fatty acids found in fish oil helps lower blood pressure.
DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) are the 2 primary essential fatty acids known as omega 3 fats. A further study narrowed down the cause and effect and isolated DHA as the principle cause of this reduction in blood pressure.
Anyone who is overweight has a higher risk of coronary heart disease as well as high blood pressure and a 3rd study sought to study any link between lowering hypertension with omega 3 in overweight people. This study also found a link between a higher intake of Omega3 fats in reduced blood pressure, particularly amongst overweight people, and found that increasing intake of omega 3 fats found in fish oil, when combined with another weight-loss regime, could “substantially” reduce dependence on antihypertensive drugs for someone who is overweight and already relying on those drugs.
There is a wide range of health benefits from increasing your intake of omega 3 and these benefits now extend to lowering hyperension. However there are sufficient heart and health benefits from increasing your intake of omega 3 fatty acids that even those with no incidence of hypertension have a wide range of health benefits available to them from increasing fish oil intake. This includes reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease as well as increasing mental acuity and memory and reducing the risk of a range of age related diseases, and more.
The science is in on the heart benefits of increasing your intake of Omega3 fats in the American Heart Association tells us all to do this, given that over 90 percent of us have a deficient intake of omega 3. This is now more important for anyone with hypertension.
So it seems there is a clear omega 3 blood pressure link. If you increase your intake of Omega3 fats you will help lower high blood pressure and may also reduce any reliance on antihypertensive drugs.
So how do you increase your intake of Omega3 fats? You could eat more fish but fish is expensive and contaminated with mercury and for this reason the FDA tells us not to eat too much fish.
The good news is that it is perfectly possible and cost effective to take daily fish oil supplements. The best fish oil supplements are contamination free, though it is important to note that there are wide variations in the quality of various fish oil supplements and you should choose carefully.
I have examined the range of fish oil capsules available carefully. Visit my website to find out which Omega 3 supplements I choose for myself and my family.
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Tags: fish oil, fish oil blood, fish oil blood pressure, fish oil blood thin, omega 3, omega 3 blood, omega 3 blood pressure