Healthier Salmon Means Healthier Cardiac Patients

A study carried out by the Heart and Lung Centre at Ullevaal Hospital in Oslo has demonstrated that domesticated salmon fed with fish oil containing a large amount of omega-3 fatty acids is better for cardiac patients than salmon fed with vegetable oil (rapeseed oil).

“Cardiac patients who ate domesticated salmon fed with a large amount of omega-3 fatty acids showed reduced risk for further development of the disease,” says professor Harald Arnesen at Ullevaal Hospital. “These patients showed a significant reduction of known risk markers for development of coronary heart disease. All patients experienced a reduction of their cholesterol level. This coincides with what we already know – that salmon is a sensible part of the typical Norwegian diet.”

It is the first time that different feed for domesticated salmon was shown to affect the health of cardiac patients. The study, “From Fjord to Fork”, is a co-operative project involving the fish farm Nutreco ARC, The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research, and Ullevaal Hospital, with support for the Research Council of Norway.

The research was carried out with 60 cardiac patients who were split into three groups. During a six-week period the patients ate 700 grams salmon every week divided over five meals. The first group ate salmon fed with fish oil that contained a large amount of omega-3 fatty acids. The second ate salmon fed with a mixture of 50 percent fish oil and 50 percent vegetable oil. The third group ate salmon fed with pure vegetable oil.

The salmon fed with fish oil had a higher level of omega-3 than the salmon that had the mixed feed and the salmon fed with vegetable oil. The level of omega-3 fatty acids in the salmon feed was reflected in the salmon filets and further in the patients’ serum omega-3 levels.