More than 70% of middle-aged women are at an increased risk of heart disease risk because of low omega-3 status, says a new German population study of 446 women (40 − 60 years) that recommends nearly all should increase intake. Omega-3s have long established beneficial effects on cardiovascular health and cognitive decline. However, 97.3% of all women in the study had levels below the 8% threshold suggested for heart disease risk reduction. The average omega-3 index of the total study population was 5.49 ± 1.17%. A total of 62.8% of women had a low omega-3 index (> 4 − 6%).
The low omega-3 status in middle-aged German women (40 − 60 years) is related to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and possibly other diseases and should therefore be improved. However, the authors noted that current recommendations for the intake of omega-3s for the general population in Germany are only given for the precursor ALA, although it is known that the conversion rate from ALA to EPA and DHA is very low.