Consumption of fish has been related to heart health for long. And now doctors may also need to provide their patients some really heart healthy fish recipes! A new study has suggested that the cooking procedure can influence the degree of the heart benefits.
The study continued for 10 years and had 85,000 postmenopausal women at its subjects. It was found that women who ate five or more servings of fish per week had a 30 percent lower risk of experiencing a heart failure compared to those who ate fish less frequently or never ate at all. But this lowered risk of heart failure was only associated with the consumption of baked or broiled fish.
Fried fish is supposed to cause you harm rather than doing any good. Just one serving of fried fish every week has been found to be associated with a 48 percent higher risk of heart failure. Researchers conducted a separate study and found that certain types of fish are more heart friendly than the others.
Dark, oily fishes such as salmon and mackerel were found to provide the maximum benefits while tunas or white fishes like sole and cod were not found to offer the same degree of effectiveness. The good fats or the Omega-3 fatty acids are normally believed to show all the heart friendly properties - they fight inflammation, blood pressure and cell damage.
But omega-3s are not supposed to get the full credit! The researchers estimated the total intake of the omega-3 fatty acids (including the ones obtained from fish oil supplements) and found that there was no relation between Omega-3s on their own and the decreased risk of heart failure. This indicates that it is the whole fish that promotes heart health and all the benefits do not come from the essential fatty acids alone!
