by Petter Johannessen, Director General, IFFO
As winter is approaching and the Covid-19 pandemic still spreading, supplements
containing Omega 3 fatty acids are experiencing a growing demand as a means for
people to boost their immunity systems.
Fish oil capsules are highly
sought-after. It is not a mystery why that is. Fish oil is a critical source of
Omega-3s (EPA, DHA).
GOED, the trade non-profit organisation at the heart of the global Omega-3 industry, has published a comprehensive meta-analysis that connects increases in EPA and DHA Omega-3 intake to positive cardiovascular outcomes. The study compiles data from the complete body of scientific evidence: 40 clinical trials representing more than 135,000 study participants. It found that EPA and DHA supplementation is associated with statistically significant risk reductions in several cardiovascular outcomes.
The study also found that the protective effect increases with dosage. An additional 1g/day of EPA and DHA results in an additional 5.8 percent reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease events and a 9.0 percent reduction in the risk of heart attacks.
Providing the right balance between Omega-3s and Omega-6s
Professor Doug Tocher, from the Institute of Aquaculture (University of Stirling, UK) explains very clearly that Omega-3 and Omega-6 are meant to work in balance to control and regulate physiology. “However,” he says, “in the last century or so, industrial agriculture and the rise of vegetable oils has seen a huge shift in this balance with dietary Omega-6 now exceeding Omega-3 by over 20-fold resulting in many metabolic conditions.”
The Omega-3 gap needs to be filled in, and doing so in ways that respect both nutritional needs and biodiversity of all kinds of species, while being financially viable in the long term, should be a matter of public concern.
That said, it is worth underlining that fish oil is far more than Omega-3s and plays a role in the global food system, well beyond the nutraceutical market! Fish oil is essential in global protein production (that is, production of farmed fish, with aquaculture using almost 70 percent of fish oil produced worldwide in 2019 according to IFFO figures)
Read more, HERE.
The Aquaculturists
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