Almost a third of UK adults are thought to take fish oil supplements (Picture: Getty)
Fish oil supplements aren’t known for tasting good, with ‘How to take cod liver oil without gagging’ even becoming a popular search term.
But millions are chugging them anyway due to their perceived health benefits, with omega-3 fatty acids good for the brain, eyes, heart, and body in general.
A new study came up with surprising result, however, when healthy people who took fish oil supplements actually appeared to have a higher risk of developing heart disease.
The study published in the BMJ (British Medical Journal) looked at 415,737 people aged between 40 and 69 enrolled in the UK BioBank study between 2006 and 2010. They were asked questions about their lifestyle including use of fish oils.
They were tracked until the end of March 2021 or until they died, whichever came first.
Researchers found that those who already had heart disease may see benefits from the supplements, with their risk of death lower.
Researchers said further studies are needed to find out exact mechanisms of how fish oils influence heart health (Picture: Getty)
But for those with good cardiovascular health, regular use of fish oil may increase rather than lessen the risk of first time heart disease, atrial fibrillation, and stroke.
Those in the study who had initial good heart health and took the supplements had a 13% higher chance of developing atrial fibrillation, a heart condition causing an irregular heartbeat which can progress to more serious illness.
Researchers cautioned that this was an observational study, so ‘no causal relations can be drawn from our findings’.
But it could be relevant to a large percentage of the population, with estimates that around 31% of the UK population regularly took a fish oil supplement.
They added that most of the participants were white so ‘whether the findings can be generalised to other ethnic groups is not known’.
‘Further studies are needed to determine the precise mechanisms for the development and prognosis of cardiovascular disease events with regular use of fish oil supplements,’ the study said.
Previous studies have shown the widespread benefits of eating omega-3 fatty acids from dietary sources, such as fish and nuts.