For a long time fish has been touted as a wonder food which should be consumed at least once a week as part of a healthy diet
. The oils inherent in fish and some other seafood is supposed to be healthy, particularly in reducing the chances of having heart attacks, strokes and contracting cancer later in life. However research completed by the Cochrane Collaboration a few years back purports that the initial belief in the health benefits or omega 3 was premature. The study found no conclusive proof to back up the idea of fishy oils being good for us. This comes as a killer blow to those who have been including fish as a staple fixture of their weekly diet.
To reduce the likelihood of strokes it is now thought that you would have to eat fish at least five times a week, which should make the subject 12% less likely to suffer a stroke or heart attack when they are of old age. The discrepancy with these surveys and the main reason it's difficult for them to be completely conclusive is that it's hard to account for all the other variables in people's diets and lifestyle.
For example subjects may eat more fish however they may also exercise significantly more and this improved daily fitness is going to be a massively contributing factor in their overall health, and another reason why they have reduced risk of a heart attack. Other factors that should be included (but are often mitigated due to the intrinsic restrictions of these studies) are; how much meat do the subjects eat every week? Are they smokers or none smokers? What amount of alcohol do they consume every week? What is the rest of their diet like, is it fatty or high in fibre? All these aspects add to our overall health and eating fish is just another small element of it.
What the research is conclusive on is the effect of supplements and how they are often a waste of time. Supplements and vitamins do not do the complete job as the natural foods do, a point backed by the results of other surveys and studies implemented across the world. Both vitamins D and B and amino acids are intrinsic in oily fish and may be needed for the omega-3 to have its beneficial effects and reduce the possibility of heart problems. So for a food to be good for your health, you may need all its ingredients.
How omega-3 fatty acids improve our health and reduce the risk of having a stroke or heart attack is that they shrink triglyceride fats and therefore lessen blood clotting and inflammation in our veins and arteries. Seeing as our bodies cannot create our own omega-3 increasing our fish intake is no doubt a good idea.