How Omega-3s Can Help You Live Longer & Healthier | Dr Bill Harris & Prof Sarah Berry | ZOE Podcast

Consistently we see people who have the highest omega-3 levels live the longest. A good example is Japan, where because of their diet they have an omega-3 index of about 8 or 9% on average, which is twice as high as the West. They live on average four or four and a half years longer than we do in the US, despite the fact they smoke more, have more high blood pressure, and have more stress. I hate to attribute all of that to an omega-3 effect, and I can't, but I can say that's one brick in the wall. When we look at risk for death from heart disease, it's the same story: higher omega-3, lower risk for death from heart disease, lower risk for death from cancer, and lower risk for death from all other causes combined with high omega-3. So it's doing something across not just heart health, it's helping us stay alive and resilient longer.

Right, that goes back to the UK Biobank. There have been several studies that looked at fish oil supplement use. It's a very crude measure because we don't know how much they're taking, how frequently, what product, any of that—just yes or no. But the people taking omega-3 supplements in the UK Biobank are at lower risk for multiple kinds of heart outcomes. We looked at stroke, and we looked at blood levels of omega-3, which is much better than asking people if they take fish oil. We find that the higher the blood level, the lower the risk for stroke, which contradicts the whole atrial fibrillation concern, because the problem with AFib is increased risk of stroke. Even in the big studies with pharmaceutical products where they reported a 1-2% increase in risk for AFib, they had a 20% reduced risk for stroke. So omega-3s are still benefiting heart health in a wide variety of ways. Even in these people with high risk for heart disease who are taking high-dose pharmaceutical products, they're still getting a lot of good heart benefit even if there is a small increased risk for AFib. I think the evidence is really clear that omega-3s beneficially impact heart health. For any skeptics, one fantastic thing about omega-3 is that because we can't make it, any increase in the blood we know is coming from what you're eating. People often ask how do you know it's due to diet, but this is a fact: what's in the blood comes from food. Where there's some really exciting new research is around brain health. When I was teaching up until a few years ago, I often said we just don't know yet. I know this is something you've focused on more recently in your research, so it'd be great to understand the latest evidence on omega-3 and brain health.

Right, we just got a paper accepted a couple of days ago on anxiety and depression as a function of omega-3 levels. Again, higher omega-3 levels are always linked with less current depression and anxiety and less risk for developing over time. I think a lot of people will be surprised by the shift from heart health and dementia to anxiety and depression, because most of us were brought up thinking mind and body are separate—that anxiety and depression couldn't be affected by how much salmon I ate. The short answer is I can't tell you exactly what's going on. Some cells in the brain reduce inflammation, and omega-3s can get into those cells and help reduce inflammatory signaling. But at this point, we're just seeing associations—and Sarah understands this well: an association doesn't mean causation.

Yes. The answer is that there have been studies, particularly in depression for many years, and what they found was somewhat surprising. At ZOE we know small changes can create big results. Subscribing to this channel is one such change. It helps us reach more people and bring you the latest science on health and nutrition. So if this video has given you something useful, subscribing is the easiest way to give back.