If you have a heart attack, you should eat fish 1-2 times a week! Dutch study

A study from the Netherlands suggests that patients who have suffered a heart attack can reduce the risk of cardiovascular death by eating more fish.

Researchers pointed out that for people who have had a heart attack in the past, eating fish 1 to 2 times a week can reduce the risk of death.

During the median follow-up of 12 years, 1,877 patients died, including 515 from coronary heart disease and 834 from cardiovascular disease.

The analysis results show that the more fish oil (EPA+DHA) you consume from food, the lower the risk of death from coronary heart disease.

Compared with patients with EPA+DHA intake ≤50 mg/d, those with EPA+DHA intake >200 mg/d had a 31% lower risk of death from coronary heart disease.

For every 100 mg/d increase in EPA+DHA intake, the risk of death from coronary heart disease decreased by 8%.

Similarly, the more fish you eat, the lower your risk of death from coronary heart disease. Compared with those who consumed ≤5 g/d of fish, those who consumed 20-40 g/d and >40 g/d had a 27% and 26% lower risk of death from coronary heart disease, respectively.

The researchers further found that the higher the blood EPA+DHA levels, the lower the risk of death from coronary heart disease, cardiovascular death, and all-cause death.

Compared with patients with blood EPA+DHA content ≤1.29% (as a percentage of all fatty acids), patients with blood EPA+DHA content >2.52% had a 29% lower risk of death from coronary heart disease.

For every 1 standard deviation increase in blood EPA+DHA levels, the risk of death from coronary heart disease decreases by 15%.

However, there was no significant correlation between dietary α-linolenic acid intake and blood α-linolenic acid levels and all mortality endpoints.

The study enrolled 4,067 elderly patients (60 to 80 years old) with a previous myocardial infarction (with a history of approximately 4 years) from 2002 to 2006, of whom 79% were men and 86% were taking statins. The patients were followed up until 2018.

Source: China Circulation Magazine