Omega-3 fatty acids are essential fats that your body needs for many reasons. For one, they serve as important components of cell membranes. Omega-3 fatty acids also provide energy to your body in the form of calories. But the most well-known function of these healthy fats is helping maintain good heart health and function, thanks to their anti-inflammatory properties.

According to a recent study, omega-3 fatty acids do more for the heart than previously thought. Researchers found that patients who had suffered a heart attack benefited from taking high-dose omega-3 fatty acids for six months. Supplementation with these healthy fats not only reduced the negative changes normally caused by a heart attack to the left ventricle, it also decreased scarring of the heart muscle and inflammation in the blood vessels.

Omega-3 can help the heart heal after a heart attack

One consequence of having an acute myocardial infarction or a heart attack is that the heart loses muscular tissue. This forces the organ to undergo remodeling in order to adapt while it’s in recovery. The left ventricle — one of two large chambers that collect and expel blood — is usually the part of the heart that undergoes drastic changes.

During remodeling, the left ventricle’s size, shape and function are altered unfavorably. This process is said to be progressive and eventually leads to ventricular dysfunction, arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) and poor prognosis. Hence clinicians always try to stop this remodeling using medications like neurohormonal blockers.

For their study, researchers at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston recruited participants who had just experienced a heart attack and looked at how omega-3 fatty acids can help their heart during recovery. They found that taking high-dose omega-3 fatty acids for six months reduced left ventricular remodeling in the participants significantly. Omega-3s also helped lower biomarkers of inflammation and heart muscle scarring without causing any side effects.

Because of these findings, the researchers believe that supplementing with omega-3 fatty acids can help save the lives of people who had suffered a heart attack and improve their hearts’ recovery.

“Heart failure is still a major problem after a heart attack despite all the therapy we have and the advances in interventional care,” Raymond Kwong, the study’s senior author, told ScienceDaily.

“Our findings show that omega-3 fatty acids are a safe and effective treatment in improving cardiac remodeling, so it may be promising in reducing the incidence of heart failure or death, which are still major healthcare burdens to patients who suffer a heart attack.”

What else can omega-3 fatty acids do for you?

Omega-3 fatty acids cannot be produced by the human body, so you have to obtain them from food sources. While these fats are now available as dietary supplements, the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids are still fish oils and some plant oils.

Here are some foods that can provide you with high amounts of omega-3s:

• Mackerel
• Salmon
• Cod liver oil
• Herring
• Oysters
• Sardines
• Anchovies
• Caviar
• Flax seeds
• Chia seeds
• Walnuts
• Soybeans

According to several studies, meeting your daily omega-3 fatty acid requirement (1.1 grams for women and 1.6 grams for men) can give you the following benefits:

• Lower risk of anxiety and depression
• Improved eye health
• Better brain growth and development (for infants)
• Reduced risk of heart disease
• Reduced symptoms of metabolic syndrome
• Reduced inflammation
• Lower risk of autoimmune diseases (e.g., Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis)
• Improved mental health
• Lower risk of age-related mental decline
• Reduced risk of breast and prostate cancer
• Lower risk of asthma
• Reduced fat in the liver
• Improved bone and joint health
• Decreased menstrual pain
• Better-quality sleep
• Healthy, younger-looking skin

Omega-3 fatty acids are vital for the maintenance of your overall health. To get enough omega-3 fatty acids, add wild-caught fatty fish to your diet or take high-quality fish oil supplements that come from trusted sources.

Sources:

ODS.OD.NIH.gov

AHAJournals.org 1

AHAJournals.org 2

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov

ScienceDaily.com

Healthline.com 1

Healthline.com 2