May Improve Risk Factors for Heart Disease
Heart attacks and strokes are the world’s leading causes of death.
Decades ago, researchers discovered that fish-eating communities had very low rates of heart attack and stroke. This was later linked to omega-3 consumption. Since then, omega-3 fatty acids have been linked to numerous benefits for heart health. Benefits of omega-3 on heart health include:
- Triglycerides: Omega-3s can significantly reduce levels of triglycerides.
- Blood clots: Omega-3s can prevent blood platelets from clumping together. This helps stop the formation of harmful blood clots.
- HDL cholesterol: Some older studies showed that omega-3s could increase the levels of HDL (good) cholesterol in the blood.
- Inflammation: Omega-3s are known to decrease the synthesis of some substances released during your body’s inflammatory response.
In some cases, omega-3s can also help reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol. However, more research needs to be done to back this up.