You need fish oil
and cholesterol!
The evidence is
overwhelming that omega-3 fatty acids or, more specifically,
eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, the
main components of fish oils, are highly effective in preventing
sudden cardiac death, death from heart disease, and certain
arrhythmias.
Fish Oil
and Cholesterol Study
In a well-designed study, German researchers found that fish oils
slowed the buildup of plaque in artery walls of patients with heart
disease. Results were published in the April 6, 1999 issue of the
prestigious Annals of Internal Medicine.
How It Was Done
Investigators from the University of Munich recruited 253 patients
whose clogged arteries had been confirmed by an angiogram (an X ray of
blood vessels).
For two years, half of the participants were given a daily fish oil supplement containing an average of 1.5 grams of omega-3 fatty acids. The other half received a placebo. To avoid bias, assignments were made randomly and neither the investigators nor the participants knew who had been assigned to which treatment group.
Over the course of the study, researchers saw each of the subjects five times to measure their cholesterol and triglycerides levels, and their blood pressure.
At the last visit, the angiogram was repeated and viewed by an expert panel. Any change in the diameter of blood vessels was measured and recorded.
Why It's Important
The omega-3s in fish oil for lowering cholesterol do not work like statins,
which selectively lower only one kind of "bad"
cholesterol, called LDL.
There is no such thing as "bad" cholesterol.
Cholesterol is necessary for life. People with
low cholesterol have heart attacks and those
with high HDL cholesterol live longer.
The omega-3s in fish fat reduce the risk of
strokes, sudden cardiac death, and second heart
attacks by doing four things:
Lower blood
triglycerides.
Raise levels of “good”
(HDL) cholesterol.
Fish oil for lowering cholesterol.
Omega-3-rich fish oil and cholesterol supplements appear to slow the progression of the heart disease and produce a regression in the amount of plaque in artery walls.
Results were modest but notable. Of 80 placebo subjects, 36 showed mild progression, five had moderate progression and seven experienced mild regression.
Of the 82 subjects for which data were available, only 35 had mild progression, four showed moderate progression, 14 had mild regression and two experienced moderate regression.
These developments are important because less progression and more regression of plaque in artery walls may contribute to heart attacks that are less severe or deadly.
Additional Findings
The investigators are not sure what accounts for the effectiveness of
omega-3 fatty acids for heart disease sufferers.
Interestingly, the findings indicate that the connection of fish oil and cholesterol are not what many would expect to achieve heart health.
The improvement in blood vessel health was not due to a reduction in LDL cholesterol levels. In fact, LDL levels tended to be higher in the fish oil group.
Instead, the researchers point to possible association between fish oils and a reduction in compounds called growth factors believed to play a role in clogging arteries.
Older people who ate fish once or twice a week had a 20 percent lower risk of developing congestive heart failure during 12 years of follow-up, according to a study featured in the June 21, 2025, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
I'm Gene Millen, the owner of this website and your heart health coach. Twenty-one years ago a skilled surgeon sawed open my chest and stitched in bypasses to six clogged arteries.
I'm always on the lookout for the best fish oil and cholesterol supplements that will keep my arteries clear and my heart pumping for a long, long time. I have a little advice for you.
Be sure to choose pharmaceutical
grade fish oil.
It's
important to get your fish oil from a source that has been molecularly
distilled to remove dangerous heavy metals and contaminants.
It's not a good idea of consume toxic waste such as
mercury.
Several studies have shown that people with a high consumption of certain fish have higher mercury levels in their blood and toenails.
The lesson here is that the safest way to obtain a high intake of EPA and DHA is through the consumption of a high quality, molecular distilled fish oil supplement.
The difficulty is that it is difficult to know what the quality is for the normal fish oil on merchants shelves. It is natural to want to get the cheapest price, but cheap fish oil is no bargain.
So how do we determine the quality? X-tend Life provides us with the information we need to make a wise decision.
In addition to having exceptional procedures for determining that their fish oil is fresh and free from contaminants, the researchers from XTend Life have made a significant breakthrough...incorporating two potent natural ingredients that have been proven to help address the main causes of premature aging to the skin!
These two
ingredients are:
Lyc-O-Mato® (a complex lycopene
extract from tomato oil, and astaxanthin
from algae.
Astaxanthin is the powerful antioxidant that is
found in small quantities in krill oil. Our
Omega-3 / DHA Fish Oil Premium provides more of
this substance in a daily dose than krill oil.
Natural lycopene is now being widely recognized in medical circles as having a broad range of health and skin benefits.
Yes there is a connection between fish oil and cholesterol...a very positive one.
I'm convinced that the fish oil and cholesterol benefits of XTend Life Premium Omega 3 Fish Oil are head and shoulders above other products on the market.