Something Fishy About Eating Fried Fish

If you think having Fish and Chips Sunday night equals ticking the “fish in my diet” box. Think again.

It has been well documented that the intake of fish and omega-3 (n-3) fatty acid is associated with cardiovascular disease prevention. It is also believed that fish may play a role in the prevention of type 2 diabetes as well. However, results of some prospective studies in Western populations suggest that potential adverse effects of environmental contaminants in fish can increase the risk for type 2 diabetes. Also, the effect of fish on glucose metabolism may differ according to cooking methods.

Compared with raw fish, deep-fried fish intake is associated with higher concentrations of contaminants and reduction in the levels of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid. Additionally, salted fish could deteriorate insulin metabolism, and the drying of fish may accelerate the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Overall, data from populations with high fish consumption are scarce. So to get a clear picture is difficult.

Another study looked at eating baked or broiled dark fish (such as salmon) five times a week may prevent heart failure in older women, whereas having fried fish only once a week may increase this risk. The findings are based on a 10-year follow-up of more than 84 000 postmenopausal women who participated in the Women's Health Initiative--Observational Study (WHI-OS).

Compared with the women who rarely ate broiled or baked fish, those who consumed five or more servings a week had a 30% lower risk of developing heart failure. Conversely, women who had at least one serving a week of fried fish had an almost 50% increased risk of incident heart failure, compared with those who rarely ate fried fish.

Dr Donald Lloyd-Jones (Northwestern University, Chicago, IL) said this, "How you prepared the fish was maybe just as important as eating the fish itself." He also said, “that the magnitude of the increased risk of heart failure associated with eating fried fish was "’unexpected.’"

Other key findings were that most of the reduction in heart-failure risk with frequent consumption of broiled or baked fish was due to eating dark fish (salmon, mackerel, or bluefish) as opposed to white fish (sole, snapper, or cod) or tuna. Fish consumption also predicted future heart failure independent of myocardial infarction (MI), a common cause of heart failure.

Lloyd-Jones also cautioned that people should not interpret these findings to mean that they could just take a capsule of fish oil and obtain the same benefits as were seen here, because there may be other constituents in the fish that are contributing, he noted. - Medscape