Which increases HDL more, taking fresh fish or DHA supplements?
A. Fish and fish oils are whole foods, providing not only DHA, but many other fatty acids and naturally occurring substances. A good question is whether the whole food is helpful, or a single nutrient from the food, such as DHA. To find out, researchers led by Dr. J.Agren at the University of Kuopio, Finland, performed a very interesting experiment with 55 healthy male volunteers. One group ate four fish meals a week (providing 700 mg DHA/day), another group took 4 g/day of fish oil (providing 950 mg DHA/day), and the third group, 4 g/day of DHA rich oil (providing 1680 mg DHA/day). In all groups, HDL increased and triglycerides decreased substantially, with no great differences. So, take your choice fish, fish oils, and DHA all promote healthy hearts! Q. How does DHA directly help the heart itself? A. So far, weve seen DHA and EPAs effect on various factors in the blood, such as HDL, triglycerides, and platelets. This double-blind study by Dr. S. Grimsgaard at the University of Tromso
