Omega 3 and Human Health

During the last 100 years, a dramatic change in our nutrition has occurred. A whole industry of ready-to-cook foods has been invented; these foods are sold in the supermarkets. The main concern of this industry is the long period of conservation of the products. The presence of unsaturated fatty acids significantly reduces the duration of this period when the products are exposed to warmth, light and oxygen.

The greater part of manufacturers of vegetable oils produce refined oils in which the content of OMEGA-3 acids is only 4-6%. 100 years ago, these have constituted 20-30% of human nutrition. This dramatic change in nutrition is thought to be the major factor for the serious increment of chronic and cardiovascular diseases in the last years.

In order to restore the vitally important balance in our nutrition, it is more than necessary for us to consume fish at least twice a week as well as to take OMEGA-3 fats in the form of food supplements. The therapeutic use of OMEGA-3 and its varieties EPA and DHA is increasing during the last decades. It is used for treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, etc.

The interest toward OMEGA-3 comes from the observations on a phenomenon in Greenland: a diet rich in fats combined with extremely low incidence of cardiovascular diseases. It was found that the diet of eskimos is extremely rich in fats of marine origin. These fats contain much long-chained polyunsaturated acids from the group of Omega-3. This provoked the interest of medicine toward fish oil. A series of studies have come to the conclusion that Omega-3 fats help for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases because of their properties, as follows:

- Omega 3 prevent arrhythmias; the probable mechanism of this action is based on the stabilizing effect on the myocardium. It has also been observed that Omega-3 reduces heart rate at rest and improves the function of cardiac ventricles;
- hypolipidemic effect on triglycerides and very low density lipoproteins (VLDL-C): there are observations that the intake of Omega-3 reduces serum concentrations of triglycerides to 25%;
- anti-inflammatory properties;
- antiplatelet effect: Omega-3 reduces the degree of clotting;
- inhibition of atherosclerosis: the mechanisms explaining this effect are related with the their impact on the metabolism of VCAM-1, E-selectin and I-CAM-1.
- Omega-3 also possess a mild hypotensive effect on blood pressure.