Anecdotal (and an increasing body of scientific) evidence has suggested that diets that contain large amounts of fish can help guard against cardiovascular disease. In October American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Eric Dewailly and colleagues at the CHUL Research Center, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Quebec, Ste-Foy, Canada examine the diet of the Inuit. Historically this consisted primarily of marine foods rich in n-3 fatty acids, but has changed over the past 20 years due to the increasing availability of other foods. This in turn has increased the prevalence of risk factors for CVD among these people.

Dewailly et al. studied 179 men and 247 women, aged between 18 and 74 years, who had participated in a 1992 health survey. The participants filled out food frequency questionnaires. In addition, plasma lipid concentrations were measured at clinic visits to determine the phospholipid concentrations of the n-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic...