many things people do to be “healthy” pan out to be snake oil. here goes another one.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/claims-that-fish-oil-boosts-health-linger-despite-science-saying-the-opposite/2015/07/08/db7567d2-1848-11e5-bd7f-4611a60dd8e5_story.html
One of the problems is that people desperately want something to believe in, particularly if it is as easy to take as a pill.
Like many things with nutrition, what this says isn’t that fish oil doesn’t have any benefits vis a vis heart disease, that taking supplements, so far, has no conclusive proof. This happens all the time, my cardiologist told me to take Niacin, because it lowered LDl levels, turns out Niacin does that, but on the other hand, it treats the symptom, not the underlying problem. With fish oil, there are other benefits to it that may make it worth taking, and there so far isn’t conclusive proof it isn’t worth anything. The same thing was said about taking folic acid to prevent homocysteine from destroying artery walls and allowing plague to attach, that is was ‘witch doctory’, these days it is de rigeur to have people taking folic acid.
Has the American Heart Association changed their recommendation?
justoinedad, people want to think if they just do everything “right” they will live a long happy life. genetics are 99.99% of your destiny minus accidents, natural disasters, and infectious diseases. and often times the so called healthy thing is not so healthy. vitamins, supplements, low fat diets are all being looked at and are being found to be of no value and many times actually unhealthy. but so many people have spent the last 20 years doing the “healthy” thing so when the truth comes out it is hard for those vested in those thing to change.
Well, 99.99% might be giving those wacky genes a bit too much credit…
“Has the American Heart Association changed their recommendation? " it is hard for them to do that…hey we have been pushing snake oil on you for years but now listen to us! no seriously we are sorry but this time we are correct.
you are aware that after 40 years the government quietly changed it’s recommendations on eating eggs, butter , fat etc… turns out that stuff is not " bad” for you and you actually need those things. most people do not know of the change.
just one dad I heard a quote one time from somebody who in I believe worked in the cardiac ICU…it went something like this
the patient would say to the heart surgeon after surgery , doctor I exercised, I ate “right” did not smoke, took vitamins etc… how could this heart attack happen…the doctor responds did you read the fine print on the contract with your parents at the time of your conception.
So does that statement mean it doesnt matter what we do because our health is dependent on genetics?
In that case I have two years left, I might as well eat what I want.
Perhaps the patient’s idea of “exercise” was a 1 minute walk, and the patient’s idea of “eating right” means only two servings of fettucine alfredo instead of three.
Well, sometimes you can do everything right and you still get a heart attack. You should comfort yourself with the likelihood that you at least postponed the heart attack for many years!
Arguing it is all genetics is a cop out, because it isn’t. While for example the old claim that dietary cholesterol=blood cholesterol equals heart disease was wrong, that doesn’t mean that what we do cannot change what our genes have. If you take folic acid, you help prevent cholesterol from sticking to the artery walls. Inflammation is a big deal, so avoiding foods and substances that cause inflammation can help prevent issues. Exercise and fitness do stave off things like heart disease. If you smoke, it is going to hurt you compared to if you didn’t, and so forth. In the case of said patient, if he had done it right, that heart attack might have happened at 32, instead of let’s say 52.
we all want to control our destiny, it is not how it works! eating the latest trendy “healthy” diet will not help, having a genetic or congenital defect will not be fixed by exercise , and taking vitamins or supplements will not increase your life expectancy and can actually harm you .http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensalzberg/2014/01/13/the-top-six-vitamins-you-shouldnt-take/ it has been pounded into peoples heads for a long time and undoing this myths will take time. it is like finding out the world is not flat. it takes a while for the truth to come out and be understood.
also on vitamins
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/12/17/251955878/the-case-against-multivitamins-grows-stronger
Just eat the fatty fish. 
I agree that multivitamins are not appropriate for many people. Thats like saying size 8 is the average shoe size, so it should work for everyone.
However, a* personalized* supplement regime can work wonders and forestall the need for prescription medications.
Ive reversed my osteoporosis by taking calcium, magnesium and vitamin D, Ive also gotten away without SSRIs by taking HTP-5, to name just a few supplements.
I also take coenzyme q-10 & AREDS supplements for my eyes, which seems to help a little to reduce inflammation, but I am still stuck on a cycle of steroid drops in order to be able to see at all.
While I’m not a pro vitamin person there times where they are needed. We eat chicken and fish but not much red meat. My 14 year old DS ended up being anemic. It took a couple of months of iron pills to get his iron level back to normal. When he stops growing he won’t need one but for now he takes a multivitamin with iron…
"So here’s my expanded list of the Top Six Vitamins You Shouldn’t Take, with the newest entrant at the end:
Vitamin C
Vitamin A and beta carotene
Vitamin E
Vitamin B6
Multi-vitamins
Vitamin D"
There is no harm in taking Vit C once in a while. Vit A in oodles can be dangerous. Multi-vitamin is a crock. I wonder if the Vit D studies that he quotes looked at folks with severe deficiencies… I can only access the abstract, but even from there, I can see that they did not. He says it does not help with improving bone density - duh!!! At the same time, the author touts Fosamax - ?! Wow. For me, he lost all credibility right there.
My score went from -2.7 to -1.7 after bone health supplements. Im wondering if the studies involving vitamin D supplementation were using D2 or the less common but more effective, D3?
The Forbes artcle is not written by a medical dr or even a nutritionist, his background is in computer science/engineering & biostats.
He doesnt have much more credibility than folks who whinge that the middle class is being shut out of higher ed.
It is important to supply your Drs with all your supplements and to keep track of levels in the various configurations, particulary the fat soluble vitamins, as well as regular physicals that include blood testing.
Genetics does play a huge part. But that doesn’t mean we can’t tweak our health status with lifestyle choices or even medication. There is genetic hypertension in my family. We are not just going to go “well, okay, I’m screwed.” My sister and I are exercising daily, which has been shown to help lower blood pressure. We take medication and both of us are controlling that blood pressure. We probably won’t carry the same risk with controlled blood pressure as if we didn’t address it and just accepted the heritage of our ancestors. In fact, I’ve been riding my bike so much, I am on a very low dose of BP med and the possibility looms that I may soon not need it at all.
People with genetic predisposition to diabetes can circumvent that by exercising daily (helps increase insulin sensitivity), controlling their weight, and reducing consumption of refined carbohydrates and sugar in its various forms.
There may be things we don’t yet know to do which can short circuit the inevitability of certain outcomes influenced by our genes. That is why research is always ongoing.
I love fatty fish like salmon. So I’ll eat that, avoid what I know to be harmful, continue my bike riding and other “healthy” behaviors, and just hope for the best.