Baked, Broiled Fish Cuts Heart Failure Risk by 30%

DALLASPostmenopausal women who eat five or more servings of baked or broiled fish have a 30-percent lower risk of developing heart failure compared to women who eat less than one serving of fish per month, according to a new study published in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure.

The findings also suggest the type of fish and cooking method may affect heart failure risk. The researchers found that dark fish such as salmon, mackerel and bluefish were associated with a significantly greater risk reduction than tuna or white fish such as sole, snapper and cod. The study found eating one serving of fried fish a week was associated with a 48-percent higher heart failure risk.

Not all fish are equal, and how you prepare it really matters," said Donald Lloyd-Jones, M.D., Sc.M., senior author of the study. When you fry fish, you not only lose a lot of the benefits, you likely add some things related to the cooking process that are harmful."

Previous research has found that fatty acids in fishEPA, DHA and ALAmay lower risk of cardiovascular disease by decreasing inflammation, resisting oxidative stress and improving blood pressure, cardiac and blood vessel function.

Researchers examined self-reported dietary data from 84,493 postmenopausal women in the Womens Health Initiative Observational Study. They divided study participants based on the frequency and type of fish consumption as well as cooking method. The baked/broiled fish group consisted of canned tuna, tuna salad, tuna casserole, white fish (broiled or baked), dark fish (broiled or baked) and shellfish (not fried). The fried fish group consisted of fried fish, fish sandwich and fried shellfish. During an average follow-up of 10 years, 1,858 cases of heart failure occurred.

Participants whose diets included more baked/broiled fish tended to be healthier and younger than their counterparts who ate fried fish. They were more physically active and fit, more educated and less likely to smoke, have diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. Their diets contained more fruits and vegetables, less unhealthy, saturated and trans fatty acids and more beneficial fatty acids, which are found in fish and in non-marine foods such as nuts, seeds and certain vegetable oils. Consumption of fried fish was associated with higher body mass index, higher caloric intakes and lower fiber consumption.

Baking or broiling fish and eating it frequently seem to be part of a dietary pattern that is very beneficial for a number of things," said Lloyd-Jones. In this case, we demonstrated that its associated with heart failure prevention. This suggests that fish is a very good source of lean protein that we ought to be increasing as a proportion of our diet and decreasing foods that contain less healthy saturated and trans fats."