Researchers from Iran together with colleagues from Canada and Norway found out that a high content of alpha linolenic acid is associated with a reduced death risk from all causes, including cardiovascular diseases. The article of scientists is published in The BMJ.
alpha linolenic acid is a polyunsaturated fatty acid of the omega-3 group, contained in nuts, and vegetable oils. It has already been established that the rich diet is connected with the reduced risk of death in the coronary heart disease. Researchers from Tehran Medical University, together with foreign colleagues, analyzed data 41 studies on the relationship between alpha-linolenic acid and the risk of death. In total, almost 1.2 million participants took part in these studies from 1991 to 2021, from which almost 200 thousand people died.
Analysis showed that a high alpha-linolenic acid diet is associated with a decrease in the risk of death from all reasons for ten percent. For cardiovascular diseases, this indicator was eight percent, for coronary heart disease – 11 percent. For mortality from cardiovascular diseases, researchers managed to identify the dependence of “dose-effect”: an increase in the daily reception of alpha-linolenic acid per gram was associated with a decrease in death risk by five percent. Higher acid content in the blood is also associated with a decrease in the risk of death.
At the same time, such a diet somewhat increased the risk of death from cancer. In order to confirm this relationship, further research is needed, the scientists are emphasized. The study included in the analysis was observational – therefore the causal relationship with the authors was not established. Also, as a result, they can not be excluded by the influence of other factors on the identified effect.