Omega-3 And Fish Oil's Effect On Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)

Here is a summary about the effect of omega 3 fish oils and hypertension.

High blood pressure is a risk factor for ischemic heart disease, and cardiac disease is a major medical problem in Western societies.

This summary (in "quotes") is from Medline Plus:

"Multiple human trials report small reductions in blood pressure with intake of omega-3 fatty acids (22-28). Reductions of 2-5 mmHg have been observed, and benefits may be greater in those with higher blood pressures. Effects appear to be dose-responsive (higher doses have greater effects) (23). DHA may have greater benefits than EPA (29)."

So this is saying that omega 3's do have an effect on reducing high blood pressurre.

And the other benefits the summary refers to probably refers to it's direct effects on reducing heart attacks.

"However, intakes of greater than 3 grams of omega-3 fatty acids per day may be necessary to obtain clinically relevant effects, and at this dose level, there is an increased risk of bleeding. Therefore, a physician should be consulted prior to starting treatment with supplements."

This is sensible advice as high dose fish oil capsules may make blood slightly less easy to clot.

This may be a potential problem if you have bleeding tendencise or are on medications that thin your blood. So if you are at all concerned, see your doctor.

"Other approaches are known to have greater effects on blood pressure, such as salt reduction, weight loss, exercise, or antihypertensive drug therapy. Therefore, although omega-3 fatty acids do appear to have effects in this area, their role in the management of high blood pressure is limited."

As you can see, there are many steps that are needed to reduce high blood pressure.

If you only rely on one way, then your blood pressure may not go down very much. So try to make your whole lifestyle healthy and you'll me more likely to reduce hypertension.

References:

Medline is a a resource that collects medical research information from National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other government agencies and health-related organizations.

Howe PR. Dietary fats and hypertension. Focus on fish oil. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1997;827:339-352.
Morris MC, Sacks F, Rosner B. Does fish oil lower blood pressure? A meta-analysis of controlled trials. Circulation 1993;88(2):523-533.

Morris MC, Taylor JO, Stampfer MJ, et al. The effect of fish oil on blood pressure in mild hypertensive subjects: a randomized crossover trial. Am J Clin Nutr 1993;57(1):59-64.

Appel LJ, Miller ER, III, Seidler AJ, et al. Does supplementation of diet with 'fish oil' reduce blood pressure? A meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials. Arch Intern Med 1993;153(12):1429-1438.

Mori TA, Bao DQ, Burke V, et al. Docosahexaenoic acid but not eicosapentaenoic acid lowers ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate in humans. Hypertension 1999;34(2):253-260.

Knapp HR, FitzGerald GA. The antihypertensive effects of fish oil. A controlled study of polyunsaturated fatty acid supplements in essential hypertension. N Engl J Med 1989;320(16):1037-1043.

Bonaa KH, Bjerve KS, Straume B, et al. Effect of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids on blood pressure in hypertension. A population-based intervention trial from the Tromso study. N Engl J Med 1990;322(12):795-801.