Research

Hormonal

Higher intake of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (EPA+DHA) from seafood reduces the risk of sudden cardiac death in men, regardless of their background intake of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Aim for at least 250 mg of long-chain omega-3s (EPA+DHA) daily, which is roughly equivalent to 1-2 servings of fatty fish per week. This intake significantly lowers your risk of sudden cardiac death. Crucially, you do not need to restrict your intake of plant-based fats (n-6 PUFAs) to get this benefit; the protection holds true whether your plant fat intake is low or high.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
In multivariate-adjusted analyses, both long-chain and intermediate-chain n-3 PUFA intakes were associated with lower CHD risk, without modification by n-6 PUFA intake. For example, men with ≥ median long-chain n-3 PUFA intake (≥250 mg/d) had a reduced risk of sudden death whether n-6 PUFA intake was below (<11.2 g/d; hazard ratio [HR]=0.52; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.34 to 0.79) or above (≥11.2 g/d; HR=0.60; 95% CI=0.39 to 0.93) the median compared with men with a < median intake of both.
Dariush Mozaffarian et al. · Circulation · 2005

Why this rating

Large prospective cohort (n=45,722) with long follow-up (14 years) and rigorous adjustment for confounders, though observational design limits causal inference compared to RCTs.

Source

Interplay Between Different Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Men

Dariush Mozaffarian et al. · Circulation · 2005

DOI 10.1161/01.cir.0000152099.87287.83

cohort · n=45722Cited 466×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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