The study authors focused on so-called healthy aging, or the number
of years people live without developing disabilities or physical or
mental health problems. They examined data on 2,622 adults who were
74 years old on average, following them from 1992 to 2015. Only 11
percent of participants experienced healthy aging throughout the
entire study period.
"We found that older adults who had higher levels of omega 3 from
seafood were more likely to live longer and healthier lives," said
lead study author Heidi Lai of the Friedman School of Nutrition
Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston.
"These findings support current national dietary guidelines to
consume more seafood," Lai said by email.
Adults should get about eight ounces a week of seafood, ideally by
eating it twice a week in place of meats, poultry or eggs, according
to U.S. dietary guidelines. Some options that are high in omega 3s
include salmon, anchovies, herring, shad, sardines, oysters, trout
and Atlantic or Pacific mackerel.
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In the current study, people with the highest blood levels of omega
3 fatty acids were 18 percent to 21 percent less likely to
experience unhealthy aging, researchers report in the BMJ.
Researchers measured blood levels of omega 3s at the start of the
study and again after six and 13 years had passed. These included
eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA),
docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), and alpha linolenic acid (ALA). The
main dietary sources of EPA, DHA and DPA come from seafood, while
ALA is found mainly in nuts, seeds, and leafy green vegetables.
Based on these measurements, researchers split participants into
five groups, or quintiles, from lowest to highest levels of
circulating omega 3s.
Overall, 89 percent of the participants experienced unhealthy aging
during the study period.
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After accounting for social, economic, and lifestyle factors,
researchers found that people with the highest levels of
seafood-derived EPA were 24 percent less likely to experience
unhealthy aging that individuals with the lowest levels of EPA.
For DPA levels, participants in the top three quintiles were 18 to
21 percent less likely to experience unhealthy aging. But
seafood-derived DHA and plant-derived ALA didn't appear to influence
the chance of healthy aging.
A possible explanation for this effect is that omega 3s help to
regulate blood pressure, heart rate and inflammation, the study
authors note.
Previous research has linked omega-3s to a lower risk of abnormal
heartbeats, less fats in the blood, reduced risk of artery-clogging
deposits known as plaque, and slightly lower blood pressure.
The current study wasn't a controlled experiment designed to prove
whether or how omega 3s might directly influence health. Another
drawback is that it didn't look at omega 3 supplements.
It would be premature for people to make health decisions based on
this study, said Yeyi Zhu of Kaiser Permanente Northern California
and the University of California, San Francisco.
"There has been accumulating evidence suggesting an inverse
association between omega 3 fatty acids in food and the likelihood
of cardiovascular diseases," Zhu, author of an accompanying
editorial, said by email. "However, the data are inconsistent on
other components of health aging."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2POP6f9 BMJ, online October 17, 2018.
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