Fish, fish, it's good for the heart. Yeah, you know that.
But here's a more precise fact about fish you probably haven't heard—eating it adds 2.2 years to your life.
That's more than 800 additional precious days here on earth—all for eating some delicious bounty from the sea.
The biggest surprise is how little you actually have to consume to lengthen your life...
What the researchers found: Participants with the highest total omega-3 blood levels lived, on average, 2.2 years longer than those with the lowest levels. In addition to being 35% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, these participants were 27% less likely to die from any cause during the study period.
Looking at the specific effects of the various types of omega-3s, researchers found that higher levels of DHA were linked to a 45% reduction in death from heart rhythm disorders…DPA was associated with a 47% drop in the risk of dying from stroke…and EPA was linked with a 28% lower risk for nonfatal heart attack.
Fish is a very important dietary source of omega-3s, but it's not the only one—other good sources include flax seeds, walnuts, soybeans and grass-fed beef.
You don't have to gorge on fish or other omega-3-rich foods to reap the longevity benefits. In the study, blood levels of omega-3s showed the most pronounced increase when comparing participants who consumed little or no omega-3s with those who had an average omega-3 intake of approximately 400 mg per day (that's about 2,800 mg per week)—about the amount you would get from eating two servings of fatty fish (such as salmon, sardines or tuna) every week. At higher levels of omega-3 consumption, blood levels continued to rise but they did so much more gradually. This suggests that the biggest "bang for your buck" occurs when a person goes from eating little or no fish to regularly eating modest amounts of fish.
Because this study focused on people who did not take fish oil pills, it is not known whether using supplements would produce similar benefits—but other studies that have looked at the effects of omega-3 supplementation have shown mixed results.
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