40+ years ago a pair of Danish scientists acquired the mistaken belief
that Greenlanders had a very low incidence of heart disease (turned out
that people who live in extremely rural conditions without access to
modern medicine just have a low incidence of reported heart
disease); they concluded that the Omega-3s in their diet was responsible
and a thousand nutritional supplement fortunes were born.
But a wide-ranging, careful meta-analysis published in JAMA-Cardiology
found no meaningful link between Omega-3s and reduced risk of heart
disease. As Lifehacker points out, this joins reviews that show no
benefit from taking Omega-3s for “dementia, depression, inflammatory
bowel disease, or age-related macular degeneration.”
There may be a small improvement in breast cancer, and a small increased
risk for prostate cancer, and if you’re seriously Omega-3 deprived, the
supplements may be a good idea.
