Welcome to brain stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff, Lauren vocal bomb here nutrition is complicated. Eggs at one time were considered awful for you, cholesterol bombs, heart killers, dietary death. Now even the American Heart Association says that a few eggs a week, no matter they're high flying cholesterol content, may be good for you and your heart.
The story of fish oil supplements, which are pills that contain a Mega three fatty acids considered critically to be good fats to have in your diet, is similar, only reversed. At one time, regularly popping a fish oil pill was considered hugely beneficial for mental health, cardiovascular health, brain health, and to aid in the health of unborn babies, among
other benefits. But earlier this year, a British meta study that covered seventy seven thousand, nine hundred and seventeen heart patients was released, and it said that fish oil supplements quote had no significant association with reducts in fatal or non fatal coronary heart disease or any major vascular events. In other words, the pills didn't do anything for these heart patients in terms of heart attacks and strokes. Suddenly fish oil supplements weren't quite the magic pill that some
took them to be. So what's the health conscious consumer to think. We spoke with Dr herzel Gerstein, a Canadian endocrinologist and one of the studies authors, who said, I think the overall message is when you look at the best evidence in the world taken together synthesized in this way, overall, there's really no scientific justification to go out and buy omega three fatty acid supplements if you think you're going to be preventing heart attacks and strokes, because there's no
evidence you will. That study dealt specifically with dietary supplements. Many reputable places, including the National Institutes of Health, the Harvard School of Public Health, and yes, the American Heart Association,
still tout the need for omega three's. Two problems exist in getting enough omega three fatty acids though your body doesn't make them most types anyway, so you have to get them in your diet, and many American diets don't include the main food sources of omega three's, things like soybeans, flax seed, and cold water. Fatty fish like salmon, tuna, mackerel, and sardines, that's why many consider fish oil supplements a must.
According to the Council for Responsible Nutrition, some sixteen percent of American adults take omega three fatty acids in supplement form, with tens of millions of Americans popping fish oil pills spending millions of dollars, The manufacturers of these supplements aren't going to go quietly on suggestions that their products don't work.
We also spoke with Douglas Duffie mackay, the Senior Vice president for Scientific and Regulatory Affairs for the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the leading trade association for the dietary, supplement and functional food industry. He said this study was about high risk cardiovascular heart disease individuals and determining if omega three fatty acids would act actually like a drug, a
nutritional drug to help prevent future cardiac events. But the bottom line for the general population is this is still an essential nutrient that plays incredibly important roles in human nutrition, balancing inflammation. It's part of cell membranes, it's part of cells communicating with one another, and Americans just don't eat a lot of cold water fatty fish that provides these
important nutrients. Thus, mackay contends, if sardines and flax seed aren't on your weekly shopping list, you ought to consider supplements even if they don't stop heart attacks in high risk cardiovascular cases, because your body still needs them. For his part, Gerstein, who's a professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, agrees that omega three's are essential and that a diet high in omega three is indeed may be beneficial, although the science behind
that is still unsettled. He said, there is some evidence from the dietary literature that there may be a benefit to it. This research does not in any way refute that when you think of the dietary literature, though, if someone decides they're going to eat a diet high in omega three fatty acids, that means they're also reducing other things, such as maybe red meat. So if there's a benefit, maybe it's because they're replacing harmful things with omega three's.
The main question comes down to whether people are getting enough omegathreees in their diets and what can be done about it if not. McKay says most people don't get enough, and suggest supplements in consultation with a doctor as a possible answer. Gerstein says most people do, though if they don't,
it's something that should be discussed with a doctor. The good news is that taking a regular fish oil pill as a supplement doesn't seem to do any harm, except Gerstine says, all those extra fatty acids, not to mention all the money spent, may end up quite literally down the drain. He said, you're making expensive urine. Today's episode was written by John Donovan and produced by Tyler Clang. If you enjoy our show and also wearing T shirts, check out our online shop at Tea pub dot com
slash brain Stuff. We've also got a whole bunch of back to school stuff up there, like laptop cases, and of course, for lots more on this and other brain feeding topics, check out our home planet, how stuff works dot com