Micronutrients & recovery
Increasing long-chain omega-3 fatty acid intake (via supplements or dietary replacement) does not significantly reduce all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, or major cardiovascular events in primary or secondary prevention populations.
If you are trying to prevent heart disease or reduce your risk of dying from cardiovascular causes, simply taking omega-3 supplements or eating more fatty fish is unlikely to make a significant difference based on current high-quality evidence. Focus on proven lifestyle factors like blood pressure management, smoking cessation, and overall diet quality rather than relying on omega-3 supplementation for prevention.
High compared with low LCn3 omega-3 fats probably makes little or no difference to all-cause mortality (RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.92 to 1.02; 15 trials, 129,058 participants; moderate-quality evidence), cardiovascular mortality (RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.85 to 1.02; 15 trials, 129,058 participants; moderate-quality evidence), or cardiovascular events (RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.89 to 1.01; 15 trials, 129,058 participants; moderate-quality evidence).
Why this rating
Based on 15 large randomized controlled trials with moderate-quality evidence, the finding is robust despite the null result.
Source
Omega-3 fatty acids for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease
Asmaa Abdelhamid et al. · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · 2018
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