The Eskimos and the Japanese have low levels of triglycerides because they eat large amounts of fish high in omega-3 fish oil, according to prominent heart and diet experts Dr. Kenneth Cooper and Robert Pritikin. The experts' books report that the triglyceride levels of people who previously didn't eat a lot of fish oil plunged when they changed their diets. These findings are important because there is a correlation between triglycerides and coronary heart disease.
Eskimos' Diet
The diets of the Eskimos and Japanese have been scrutinized because both populations have very low coronary heart disease rates, according to Cooper's "Controlling Cholesterol" and Pritikin's "The New Pritikin Program." Both groups eat a large amount of deep-water fish, including bass, bluefish, Chinook salmon, halibut, herring, mackerel, salmon, sardines, trout and whitefish.
Salmon Diet
The triglyceride levels of people on a "diet rich in fish oils" plunged 64 percent to 79 percent, according to a study by Oregon Health Sciences University. The researchers tested three diets on people who had problems metabolizing fat. Most of the fish oil in the first diet came from salmon. The second diet was rich in safflower and corn oil. The third diet was very low fat. The fish oil diet reduced triglycerides far more than the other two, "Controlling Cholesterol" reported.
Heart Disease Risk
Deaths from heart disease were more than 50 percent lower among people who daily ate at least 30 grams of the kind of fish that Eskimos ate than among people who ate no fish, according to a study by the Netherlands' University of Leiden. The university studied the diets of 852 middle-age Dutch men with heart disease over 20 years and concluded that fish oils reduced triglycerides and heart disease.
High Triglyceride Levels
According to "Controlling Cholesterol," your risk of heart disease is high if your triglyceride level is higher than 133 mg per dL if you're a 20- to 39-year-old man, higher than 170 if you're a 40- to 59-year-old man, higher than 154 if you're a 60-year-old or older man, higher than 106 if you're a 20- to 39-year-old woman, higher than 140 if you're a 40- to 59-year-old woman and higher than 146 if you're a 60-year-old or older woman.
Supplements
You can reduce your triglyceride level by eating fish with lots of oil or taking fish oil supplements, according to the Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide, the University of Michigan Health System and "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution." "In studies, people taking three grams of fish oil daily have reduced their triglycerides by 30 percent," the Harvard guide reported.
When Fat Doesn't Matter
High-fat fish with a lot of omega-3 oil such as tuna and salmon and low-fat fish with a lot of omega-3 oil such as flounder and cod were "equally effective" at reducing triglycerides, "Controlling Cholesterol" reported. You should get most of your fat calories from oily fish such as anchovies, mackerel, salmon and tuna if you want to reduce your triglycerides, according to "Translating Good Food Into Better Diets," the Harvard guide said.
References
- "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution"; Dr. Robert Atkins; 2002
- "The New Pritikin Program"; Robert Pritikin; 1990
- "Controlling Cholesterol"; Dr. Kenneth Cooper; 1989
- University of Michigan Health System: High Triglycerides
- Harvard Health Publications: How to Improve Triglyceride Levels
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