The recent systematic review Cochrane, published on 18 July 2018 in the Cochrane Library, has cast doubt on whether integration with PUFA n-3 can actually reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke or death.
Background
The term ω-3 or n-3 describes a family of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). The main types of n-3 PUFAs in human tissues and cells are α-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). ALA is an essential fatty acid (FA) that can be found in foods such as walnuts, oilseeds (flax and rapeseed), and vegetable oils (rapeseed and soybean), and it cannot be synthesized by mammals. Humans can partially metabolize ALA by further desaturation and elongation into the n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated FAs (LC-PUFAs) EPA and DHA. The main source of n-3 LC-PUFAs in human nutrition is currently seafood, especially oily fish (salmon, sardines, and mackerel), and cod liver oil. DHA is also found in algae (1).n-3 PUFAs are essential factors in many cellular functions such as regulating development, growth, and metabolism. They have been associated with benefits for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) (2–5). For these reasons, in recent years, much focus has been placed on increasing n-3 PUFAs consumption. The current Italian guidelines suggest consuming two to three servings of fish per week (6) (equivalent to ≈0.5 g/ day n-3 LC-PUFAs) required for primary prevention of CVD (7). A double amount of n-3 LC-PUFAs seems to be determinant in secondary prevention and can be reached only consuming supplements or fish oil (7, 8).
Read all the review here
Read all the review here