Research

Mixed

Dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids (approx. 1.5 g/day) modestly mitigates the progression of coronary atherosclerosis and promotes regression in patients with established coronary artery disease over a 2-year period.

If you have coronary artery disease, taking approximately 1.5 grams of omega-3 fatty acids daily (from fish oil) for two years can help slow the progression of plaque buildup in your arteries and may even encourage some regression. This benefit occurs even if your LDL cholesterol levels rise slightly, suggesting the mechanism works directly on the artery walls or blood flow rather than just cholesterol levels. Consult your doctor before starting, especially given the dosage.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Dietary intake of v-3 fatty acids modestly mitigates the course of coronary atherosclerosis in humans.
Clemens von Schacky et al. · Annals of Internal Medicine · 1999

Why this rating

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with a large sample size (n=223) and long duration (2 years), though primary global angiographic endpoint was not statistically significant (only segment-level was).

Source

The Effect of Dietary ω-3 Fatty Acids on Coronary Atherosclerosis

Clemens von Schacky et al. · Annals of Internal Medicine · 1999

DOI 10.7326/0003-4819-130-7-199904060-00003

rct · n=223Cited 490×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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