The Secret Revealed
In addition to dosage, the meta-analysis investigated other potential reasons for the variability in the results of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) over the years. Researchers looked at:
- The year of publication, which would indicate either differences due to study quality standards or the addition of modern cardiovascular prevention
- Baseline risk
- Whether the treatment included only EPA or EPA+DHA.
The paper found that, of all of these, the true thing is, only dosage mattered.
This research corroborates the results of an earlier meta-analysis from
published in fall 2019, that looked at EPA and DHA dosage using the 13 largest clinical studies. This new paper encompasses more than triple the number of studies, which represents the totality of the evidence to date and includes more than 135,000 study participants.
According to co-author and cardiologist Carl “Chip” Lavie, MD:
“The study supports the notion that EPA and DHA intake contributes to cardio-protection. In addition to eating fatty fish, people should consider the benefits of omega-3 supplements to help them reach total daily intake of 1000 to 2000 mg as a relatively low-cost, high-impact way to improve heart health with few associated risks.”