The researchers believe that the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil plays a role in the plasma membrane and cell function of muscles, which may enhance the benefits of training.

In this study, 45 women (aged 64 ± 1.4 y) were randomly assigned to three groups. One group performed strength training only for three months, whereas the others performed the same strength-training program and received 2 grams per day of fish oil supplementation for three months or for five months.

The peak torque and rate of torque development for all muscles (knee flexor and extensor, plantar and dorsiflexor) increased from pre- to post training in all groups. However, the researchers found that the effect was greater in the groups that supplemented with the fish oil.

As always, scientists are cautiously optimistic with the findings. “Other studies involving a larger sample and other combinations of training and supplementation period are required,” they write in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Published Jan 4, 2012).

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Fish oil, when combined with epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG)—a polyphenol and antioxidant found in green tea, may affect chemical processes in the brain associated with Alzheimers disease, according to a study published in Neuroscience Letters. This study, which used an animal (mouse) model of Alzheimers disease, builds on previous research linking the disease to peptides (amino acid chains) called beta-amyloids and laboratory studies suggesting that EGCG decreases memory problems and beta-amyloid deposits in mice.

Researchers from the University of South Florida divided Alzheimer’s disease-model mice into five feeding groups. During a period of 6 months, each group was fed one of five diets: fish oil only; high dose EGCG; low dose EGCG; low?dose EGCG and fish oil; or a regular diet (control). The researchers observed that low dose EGCG alone did not reduce the Alzheimer’s disease-related chemical processes in the brain. However, the mice fed the combination of fish oil and EGCG had a significant reduction in amyloid deposits that have been linked with Alzheimer’s disease.

Further research is necessary, however, to determine if the combination of fish oil and EGCG affects memory or cognition, and whether it might have potential as an option for people at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Source: Giunta B, Hou H, Zhu Y, et al. Fish oil enhances anti-amyloidogenic properties of green tea EGCG in Tg2576 mice. Neuroscience Letters. 2010;471(3):134–138.

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International Omega-3 Awareness Day

Scientific evidence of the health benefits of omega-3’s are now so firmly established that a team of world-renowned doctors have formed the first ever International Omega-3 Awareness Day on March 3rd, 2010.

As Carol A. Locke, MD who is leading this effort puts it, “What’s so amazing is that people can obtain huge benefits right now from increasing their intake of Omega-3. The only possible side effect is greater health and a longer life. Nothing else in medicine comes close to this.”

William E. Butler, MD, of Harvard Medical School, one of the world’s top pediatric neurosurgeons and another founding member of the Omega-3 Awareness Day team, adds, “There is substantial evidence to suggest that our levels of omega-3 essential fatty acids may be the most potent cardioprotective factors in the human diet. Optimal omega-3 intakes will have a profound effect in safely reducing the risk of cardiac disease and promoting cardiac health.”

William S. Harris, PhD, Professor of Basic Bio-Medical Science and co-founder of the omega-3 index, joined the Omega-3 Awareness Day team, stating, “Americans eat too much bad fat (saturated and trans fat) and too little good fat (omega-3’s from fish oil). Correcting our omega-3 deficiency could be the single most important dietary change we can make.”

John Ratey, MD, neuroscience expert at Harvard and another founding member of this respected team, quotes, “I tell every patient when I first meet them that they should be doing two things to help them whatever their problems are and that is: exercise daily and take omega-3’s. The scientific evidence for both is without question.”

The Omega-3 Day team invites people all over the world both within the healthcare profession and in the public to join in this international effort to save and change lives.

Source: www.Omega3Day.com

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Atherosclerosis and Heart Disease

New Study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association

The news about omega-3 benefits keeps coming! The evidence continues to grow stronger. Patients with coronary heart disease showed relatively longer “telomeres” when taking omega-3. As we age, our cells continue to divide and the “telomeres” shrink in size and thus is a marker of biological age. Shorter telomeres have been correlated with death and heart failure in several studies.

In a study published in this week’s JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), researchers measured telomere length in over 600 patients over 5 years. The study found that people with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their system had significantly less shrinkage in telomeres over five years, as compared with patients with lower omega-3 levels.

“What we’re demonstrating is a potentially new link between omega-3 fatty acids and the aging process,” said Ramin Farzaneh-Far, a clinical cardiologist and assistant medical professor at UCSF and San Francisco General Hospital who is the lead author of the research.

This comes just after other recent studies showing the benefits of omega-3 to heart patients. Just in August of 2009 a study was published in the August 11, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, which reviewed data on four trials involving almost 40,000 participants and overwhelmingly confirmed the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, in treatment after heart attack and, most recently, in heart failure patients.

The researchers conclude that the current recommendations on omega-3 fatty acids don’t change and the following guide from American Heart Association (AHA) on appropriate dosage levels is very much valid:

The AHA notes that patients taking more than 3 grams of omega-3 fatty acids from capsules should only do so under a physician’s care.  High intakes could cause excessive bleeding in some people.

Sources: Journal of American Medical Association. American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology, and The Wall Street Journal