Can You Lower Blood Pressure With Fish Oil?

By Peter Bertonach

The health benefits to your heart from increasing your intake of omega 3 essential fatty acids found in fish oil are well established and the American Heart Association now recommends a minimum intake of Omega3 fats for everyone for these reasons. These health benefits apply to such risks as cardiovascular disease, but today let's examine whether there is a fish oil blood pressure link, or whether increasing your intake of omega 3 essential fatty acids can lower high blood pressure.

High blood pressure, otherwise known as hypertension, affects many people in our population. Particularly those who are overweight can suffer from high blood pressure and may well spend years on drugs designed to lower blood pressure. If there is an omega 3 blood pressure link this may be good news to many people.

Studies have shown a clear link between fish oil and lowering bloodpressure. One study, of 120 subjects, split the subjects into 5 groups and supplemented their diet with varying combinations of fish or fish oil supplements, or both, or a placebo, and concluded that supplementation with omega 3 lowers blood pressure.

There are 2 principal omega 3 essential fatty acids. These are called DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). A further study concluded that it is primarily the DHA which is responsible for reducing hypertension.

Overweight people have higher risks of hypertension as well as coronary heart disease and a third study examined the role of omega 3 in lowering blood pressure in overweight people. This study also concluded that fish oil could help lower blood pressure for overweight people and, when combined with an appropriate weight loss regime, would help "substantially" in lowering reliance on antihypertensive drugs for those already reliant on those drugs.

There is a wide range of health benefits from increasing your intake of omega 3 and these benefits now extend to lowering hyperension. However there are sufficient heart and health benefits from increasing your intake of omega 3 fatty acids that even those with no incidence of hypertension have a wide range of health benefits available to them from increasing fish oil intake. This includes reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease as well as increasing mental acuity and memory and reducing the risk of a range of age related diseases, and more.

The science is in on the heart benefits of increasing your intake of Omega3 fats in the American Heart Association tells us all to do this, given that over 90 percent of us have a deficient intake of omega 3. This is now more important for anyone with hypertension.

It is clear there is a fish oil blood pressure link. Increasing your intake of essential fatty acids can help lower blood pressure and may also help reduce your reliance on antihypertensive drugs.

The question remains about the best way to increase your intake of omega 3. Fish is generally contaminated with mercury and the FDA recommends that we limit our intake for this reason. And fish is expensive.

But it is perfectly adequate and indeed preferable, and very cost effective to take daily omega 3 supplements, and the best ones are contamination free, though there is a wide variation in the quality of the different brands.

I have examined the range of fish oil capsules available carefully. Visit my website to find out which Omega 3 supplements I choose for myself and my family. - 30310

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