Hallo, compassionate viewers, and welcome to Healthy Living.

Recent studies have suggested that long chain omega-3 fatty acids containing docosahexaenoic acid
or “DHA” and eicosapentaenoic acid or “EPA” can be beneficial to adults in maintaining a healthy heart and to fetuses and young children in facilitating brain development.

Thus, some consume fish or fish oil, which contain these acids. But what does science say about the physical effects of omega-3 fatty acids obtained from this animal source?

Also, are these substances even needed by our bodies in the first place?

On today’s program Dr. David Jenkins, Professor of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto in Canada and Director of the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Center at Toronto’s St. Michael's Hospital shares his knowledge on these subjects.

Through the years Dr. Jenkins’ research has focused mainly on using diet to prevent and treat hyperlipidemia,
or high levels of lipids or fats in the blood stream, and diabetes, and has published over 200 papers and other works on this and related topics.

For his outstanding contributions to the field of medicine, he has received numerous awards including the Canadian Society of Nutritional Sciences’ Borden Award, the American College of Nutrition’s Goldsmith Award for Clinical Research and the Benjamin Spock Award for Compassion in Medicine by the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine.

Let’s begin by discussing coronary heart disease, a chronic condition in which the arteries leading to the heart become narrowed or blocked with plaque, resulting in less oxygen reaching this vital organ. If the heart suffers from insufficient oxygen, a heart attack may occur.