After eating fish oil for 2 months, blood lipids or high? Not paying attention to these 2 points is a waste of money!

▎ WuXi AppTec content team editor

A few days ago, Ms. Liu had a physical examination and found that her triglyceride level was slightly high, but she did not need to take medicine. [According to the Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Dyslipidemia in Adults in China (Revised Edition 2016), fasting triglyceride levels.]

The doctor advised her to adjust her eating habits and review it after about 2 months.

Ms. Liu's daughter was worried that her mother could not strictly control her diet, so she bought fish oil online, hoping to improve her mother's blood lipids.

Unexpectedly, after 2 months, Ms. Liu's blood lipids were still around 2 mmol/L. Why? Is eating fish oil a waste of money?

Image credit: 123RF

Dietary adjustment is the basis of treatment

The "Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Dyslipidemia in Adults in China (Revised Edition 2016)" pointed out that dyslipidemia is closely related to diet and lifestyle, and diet treatment and lifestyle improvement are the basic measures for the treatment of dyslipidemia. Whether or not you choose medication for lipid-modulating therapy, it is necessary to adhere to the control of diet and lifestyle improvement.

The guidelines also state that if non-HDL cholesterol levels do not reach the target value after statin treatment, a fibrate, high-purity fish oil preparation can be added to the statin. The common dose of high-purity fish oil preparations is 0.5 g to 1.0 g each time, 3 times / day, adverse reactions are rare, and it is recommended to follow the doctor's advice.

Therefore, Ms. Liu should first use diet adjustment as a basis, rather than pinning her hopes on fish oil supplements.

What is the main supplement to supplement fish oil?

The main ingredient in fish oil supplements is omega-3 fatty acids, also known as n-3 fatty acids. This is a class of polyunsaturated fatty acids, because the position of the first unsaturated bond appears at the 3rd position of the methyl end of the carbon chain, so it is called; in addition, there are n-6 fatty acids, n-7 fatty acids and n-9 fatty acids in food.

Each food contains different fatty acids in terms of content and composition, which has different effects on our health.

For example, soybean oil and corn oil that we often eat also contain a small amount of omega-3 fatty acids, but the proportion of n-6 fatty acids in these two foods is relatively large. It can be considered that the main supply of n-6 fatty acids in soybean oil and corn oil is n-6.

Oils and fats that contain more omega-3 fatty acids include fish oil, seaweed oil, egg butter, rapeseed oil, flaxseed oil, walnut oil, chia seed oil, etc.

Regular consumption of fatty fish, such as salmon (salmon), mackerel, herring, saury, flounder, sardines, striped fish, as well as walnuts, flaxseeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, avocados and other foods, can help supplement omega-3 fatty acids.

In general, omega-3 fatty acids derived from plants are mainly α-linolenic acid (ALA), and omega-3 fatty acids derived from animals are mainly docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). In the body, α-linolenic acid can synthesize DHA, but with age, the ability to transform may weaken.

The Chinese Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Dyslipidemia in Adults (2016 Revision) recommend that patients with hypertriglyceridemia should reduce their total daily fat intake as much as possible and eat less than 30 g of cooking oil per day. Fat intake should be given preference to foods rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as deep-sea fish, fish oil, and vegetable oil.

Eating deep-sea fish regularly has other benefits in addition to the benefits of regulating blood lipids.