MONDAY, Jan. 24, 2005 (HealthDayNews) -- If you're planning to add more fish to your diet to protect your health, make it broiled or baked -- not fried.
Harvard researchers found in a study of more than 4,700 older people that eating fried fish or fish sandwiches was associated with a higher risk of stroke.
Conversely, the study also found a direct relationship between consumption of broiled or baked fish and a reduced incidence of stroke, according to a report in the Jan. 24 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
The link between increased risk and fish sandwiches probably was due to the fact that those sandwiches tended to be fried-fish burgers from fast-food outlets, said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, an instructor of medicine at the Channing Laboratory, operated by Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital.
However, the study couldn't determine an exact relationship between fish consumption and stroke risk; other lifestyle factors might influence that risk, Mozaffarian said. For instance, people who tend to eat fast food may not pursue a healthy lifestyle, which includes proper nutrition and exercise.
What is clear from this and other studies is that eating oily fish such as tuna is good for the arteries and the cardiovascular system in general, he said. Data from the same study found a lower risk of atrial fibrillation, a potentially fatal disturbance of heart rhythm, Mozaffarian said.
"The message for a public audience is that intake of tuna fish or other oily fish is good for cardiovascular health," he said. "The second message is that intake of fried fish or fish burgers is unlikely to reduce risk."
Other oily fish that help the heart and arteries include salmon, mackerel, herring and anchovies, Mozaffarian said.
In the study, consumption of broiled or baked fish one to three times a month was associated with a 14 percent reduction in stroke risk. Eating broiled or baked fish one to four times a week was associated with a 28 percent reduction in stroke risk, while the risk was 32 percent lower for people who ate fish in those forms five or more times a week.
But consumption of fried fish or fish sandwiches was associated with a 37 percent higher risk of all kinds of stroke, and a 44 percent higher risk of ischemic stroke, the kind that occurs when a clot blocks an artery.
Another dietary study in the same issue of the journal found the type of fats consumed by middle-aged men might be more important than overall fat intake in reducing the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
Heart experts have long recommended polyunsaturated fats and linoleic acids to reduce risk. The study of 1,551 middle-aged men by physicians at the University of Kuopio in Finland found those whose blood levels of those fats were in the upper third were up to three times less likely to die of cardiovascular disease than men with the lowest blood levels. But total fat intake was not associated with the risk of death, the study found.
"Dietary fat quality thus seems more important than fat quantity in the reduction of cardiovascular mortality in middle-aged men," the researchers wrote.
More information
The American Heart Association has more about fish and cardiovascular health.
