Dietary supplements with PUFA will not help the cores

Supplements with Omega-3 are indifferent to the heart

Kirill Stasevich, Compulenta

Antioxidants, which have been scolded and scolded by everyone over the past year, can be followed by polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), known as Omega-3. They can be obtained both with food (for example, with fish) and in the form of countless bioactive food additives. It is believed that they protect against a variety of problems with the heart and blood vessels (as well as stimulate nerve growth and help with depression). Moreover, Omega-3 is recommended by quite official organizations – say, WHO (much more official).

But at the same time, paradoxically, there are no absolutely reliable studies on the usefulness of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Some studies claim that people who lean on Omega-3 foods are less likely to suffer from cardiovascular diseases (it was with these data that the Omega boom began). But then the researchers began to check directly whether there is a link between Omega-3 and cardiovascular health, and it was not possible to get unambiguous results. More precisely, the results were quite unambiguous – there was only no evidence that Omega-3 protects against atherosclerosis, heart failure, etc.

So a new study carried out by specialists of the AREDS2 Research Group says the same thing. AREDS 2 deals with age-related visual disorders, including those associated with retinal degeneration. In the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, the authors report how they tried to find out the usefulness or uselessness of certain vitamins and dietary supplements for patients with macular degeneration. The study (Effect of Long-Chain omega-3 Fatty Acids and Lutein + Zeaxanthin Supplements on Cardiovascular Outcomes) involved 4,200 people aged 50 to 85 years who took Omega-3 or lutein with zeaxanthin (pigments contained in the yellow spot and which can be considered as "eye vitamins"). Other subjects took placebo.

In this case, however, the researchers were interested not so much in the effect of dietary supplements on vision, as in the side effects related to cardiovascular affairs. And here's the bottom line: for five years of taking Omega-3, there was no improvement in the heart and blood vessels of the subjects; the effect of Omega-3 was the same as from placebo.

This work is echoed by another published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (Association of Dietary, Circulating, and Supplementation Fatty Acids With Coronary Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis). A group of authors from the University of Cambridge (UK) and a number of other scientific centers in Europe and the USA is conducting a meta-analysis of 72 scientific studies on the effect of various fats contained in food on coronary heart disease. The data concerning a total of 600 thousand people of 18 different nationalities and ethnicities were analyzed, so the statistics can be considered more than satisfactory.

And again it turned out that taking dietary supplements with Omega-3 (or Omega-6) did not reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. However, there is a nuance here: polyunsaturated fatty acids in dietary supplements are one thing (Omega in supplements was discussed in the previous study), and they are the same, but in natural everyday food. Fortunately, the authors of the study were also able to analyze the effect of dietary fatty acids on the heart, and together with "useful" polyunsaturated, "harmful" saturated ones were considered. And here, too, there were surprises. It turned out that if you monitor the intake of fatty acids in their entire mass, then it is impossible to predict their effect on the cardiovascular system. That is, we can determine (by diet or biomarkers in the blood) that a person consumes a lot of saturated fats, but this does not mean that he will have heart problems. And the same goes for PUFA: a person may adore omegas, but this does not mean that his heart will be in order.

The situation changes if we remember that both saturated and unsaturated fatty acids include molecules of different types. And so the connection between some particular fatty acid and the state of the heart can be quite established. Here, however, there were also paradoxes: saturated margarine acid, contrary to its "generic affiliation", statistically reduced the likelihood of cardiovascular problems.

(This acid, aka heptadecanoic acid, has no "affiliation" to margarine – VM)

This is not the first time that researchers have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to distinguish some fatty acids from others. The fact that natural PUFAs may differ from synthetic ones, and different types of Omega-3 acids may differ in their effects, we have already written once. Obviously with fatty acids (saturated or not) not everything is as simple as we would like, but for more definite answers it is worth waiting for new statistical and experimental works. Those who want certainty right now can be advised to leave Omega-supplements alone, and at the expense of the money saved, to invest in natural polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Prepared by LiveScience (Omega-3 Supplements Fail to Help Heart, Study Finds)
and Cambridge University (New evidence raises questions about the link between fatty acids and heart disease).

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru19.03.2014