True or False:
- Deep water ocean fish – oily fish – are higher in omega-3 fatty acids which lower LDL cholesterol – the bad cholesterol.
- Eating deep water ocean fish will lower cancer risk, especially for breast and colo-rectal cancer, and maybe for liver cancer.
- Eating fish instead of red meat decreases the risk of heart attack and stroke.
- Eating fish, especially deep water ocean fish, increases the risk of poisoning with heavy metals and carcinogens.
Actually, all the above are true. The facts are there, but the details are missing.
The truth is: eating fish, especially deep ocean, oily fish, is probably good for your health – if you are eating a typical red meat, fried food, high fructose corn syrup diet. The evidence for adding fish to an already healthy high fruit and vegetable, whole grain diet is less certain.
The truth is: for omega-3 fatty acids to do their anti-inflammatory work, they must be eaten in sufficient quantity and in equal amounts as omega-6 fatty acids to decrease inflammation and quiet an over-active immune system.
Two problems: 1) animals and humans cannot produce omega-3 fatty acids; they must get them from plants, and 2) the typical western diet has 4 times as much omega-6 as omega-3 fatty acids – encouraging inflammation (heart disease, stroke, autoimmune dysfunction, cancer).
The truth is: adding omega-3 supplements to the diet doesn’t have the beneficial effects that adding fish does. Therefore, supplements don’t seem to help.
The truth is: the evidence may be accumulating that it’s not adding the fish that makes the difference so much as eliminating the red meat and processed meats from the diet. Therefore, adding fish to a bad diet doesn’t help.
The truth is: fish can’t make omega-3 fatty acids either. They are not the most concentrated source of omega-3 fatty acids; plants are – about 5 to 10 times as much as fish. But plant omega-3 fatty acids are only 1/5 to 1/10 as easily absorbed as fish.
Therefore, for someone eating a plant-based diet, the amount of omega-3’s available from plants is equal to the omega-3’s available from fish. And the vegetarian doesn’t have to contend with the possibility (usually small) of consuming heavy metals or carcinogenic compounds that tend to concentrate in deep ocean, oily fish.
The truth is: get the facts and make informed choices based on your circumstances.