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Health News Archive 640 - Heart Disease
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Fish Oil and Exercise Reduce Heart Disease Risk and Body Fat

Omega-3 fish oil supplementation has been shown to improve cardiovascular health by lowering blood triglycerides 20-25% and raising HDL 10%, lowering blood pressure, lowering platelet aggregation and overall lowering risk of death from heart disease. Aerobic exercise has also been shown to improve blood lipids, lower blood pressure and improved arterial health. Until now there have been no controlled studies on the combined effect of omega-3 supplementation and moderate aerobic exercise in overweight adults that have addressed effects on body fat.

In this study, 67 adults with a body mass index (BMI) over 25 kg/m2 were divided into four groups:

• Group 1 took fish oil (6 gm/day)
• Group 2 took fish oil and exercised by walking 3 times a week for 45 minutes at 75% of maximum heart rate
• Group 3 took sunflower oil (6 gm/day)
• Group 4 took sunflower oil and exercised like Group 2

Participants were assessed for changes in blood lipids, blood pressure, arterial function and body composition at 0, 6 and 12 weeks.

Fish oil is a rich source of anti-inflammatory omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids - EPA and DHA.  Sunflower oil is a rich source of pro-inflammatory omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Results showed that fish oil without exercise significantly reduced blood triglycerides and raised HDL as previously reported and as compared to sunflower oil, which showed very little change. Adding exercise did not improve lipids further. Blood pressure did not show significant improvement with either oil or exercise during the length of this trial. However, arterial function measured as elasticity of small arteries improved about 25% with the addition of exercise to either oil regimen. Additionally, percent body fat was reduced significantly when supplementation of fish oil was combined with exercise (about 2.8% over 12 weeks).

Thus, combining moderate exercise (walking at a good pace for 45 minutes three times a week) and taking 6 gm per day of omega-3 rich fish oil appears to significantly improve cardiac health and lower percent body fat in overweight adults. This regimen seems to be well tolerated, judging from the high compliance of the participants in this study.

The average American dietary ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids is approximately 20 to 1. The historic normal level healthy level is reported to be 2:1.  In addition to fatty fish and omega-3 supplements, krill oil is another important source of DHA and EPA omega-3 fatty acids. 

Source: Alison M Hill, Jonathan D Buckley, Karen J Murphy, and Peter RC Howe, Combining fish-oil supplements with regular aerobic exercise improves body composition and cardiovascular disease risk factors, Am J Clin Nutr 2007;85:1267–74.

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