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Omega-3 vs Hostility

Young adults with a high intake of omega-3 fatty acids may be less prone to hostility, say researchers, and this could in turn reduce their risk of heart attacks. The study is part of evidence suggesting polyunsaturated essential fatty acids may play a role in mental health.

Hostility predicts both the development and manifestation of coronary disease, writes a U.S. team in European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. They examined the association of dietary omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, as well as fish, with the level of hostility in a sample of 3,581 young adults living in California.

Both intake of fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake were separately associated with lower odds of high hostility, they report.

Prenatal Omega-3 vs Allergies in Children

Taking fish oil supplements when pregnant could protect offspring from developing allergies, suggests new research from an Australian team in the December 2003 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Janet Dunstant and her team examined fish oil supplements and their effects in 40 pregnant women (from 20 weeks gestation to delivery) on the immune response in their infants. All the women had a history of hay fever or asthma, making their children at increased risk of allergies. Another 43 women took an olive oil placebo.

The supplements resulted in significantly higher levels of omega-3 and lower levels of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in cell membranes of babies born to mothers in the fish oil group.

Source: Whole Foods magazine, April 2004