The benefit of fish oil is controversial with conflicting conclusions reached by a negative meta-analysis on studies using traditional omega-3 products of randomized controlled trials by the international Cochrane Collaboration and a partially positive systematic review by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Since these two reviews, a randomized controlled trial reported a remarkable reduction on coronary events in Japanese hypercholesterolemic patients, and a later subanalysis suggested that the protective effect of highly purified EPA (E-EPA) is even more pronounced in Japanese diabetics even though their intake of fish is high.
Omega-3 fatty acids are also found in some plant sources including flax seed oil, hemp seed oil, and walnuts. The plant omega-3 (ALA) is biologically inferior to marine omega-3, as ALA needs to be converted in the liver to EPA, but only about five per cent is converted.
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