Omega-3 Fatty Acids Boosts Lung Health

According to a Cornell-led study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), omega-3 fatty acids, which are rich in fish and fish oil supplements, appear promising for sustaining lung health.

According to the researchers, the big, comprehensive study in healthy individuals provides the greatest evidence to date of this link and emphasizes the necessity of adding omega-3 fatty acids in the diet, especially given that many Americans do not meet current requirements.

“We know a lot about the role of diet in cancer and cardiovascular diseases, but the role of diet in chronic lung disease is somewhat understudied,” said Patricia A. Cassano, the Alan D. Mathios Professor in the College of Human Ecology (CHE) and director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences, which is housed jointly in CHE and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “This study adds to growing evidence that omega-3 fatty acids, which are part of a healthy diet, may be important for lung health, too.”

Cassano is the corresponding author of “Investigating Associations of Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Lung Function Decline, and Airway Obstruction,” which was published on July 20 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Bonnie K. Patchen, Ph.D. ’22, a postdoctoral researcher and member of the Cassano Research Group, is the first author. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) financed the study.

According to the researchers, there is a growing interest in determining if nutritional therapies can help prevent lung illness. Previous research has shown that omega-3 fatty acids may be beneficial, owing to their well-established anti-inflammatory properties, but rigorous examinations of this link have been missing. To find out more, the researchers designed a two-part study to look into the relationship between omega-3 fatty acid levels in the blood and lung function over time.

The first component of the study involved more than 15,000 different Americans from the NHLBI Pooled Cohorts Study, a huge collection of NIH-funded studies that allows researchers to explore drivers of personalized risk for chronic lung disease. The longitudinal study found that higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in a person’s blood were linked to a slower loss in lung function. The highest connections were discovered for docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid present in high concentrations in fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, and sardines. DHA can also be obtained as a food supplement.

The researchers studied genetic data from a large study of European patients (over 500,000 participants) from the UK Biobank in the second half. They looked at how particular genetic markers in the blood interacted with lung health as an indirect measure of dietary omega-3 fatty acid levels. Higher amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, especially DHA, were linked to improved lung function, according to the findings.

The current study had one limitation in that it only involved healthy people. The researchers are collaborating with the COPDGene Study to exanine blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids in relation to the rate of decline in lung function among people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including heavy smokers, to see if the same beneficial associations are found.

“We’re starting to turn a corner in nutritional research and really moving toward precision nutrition for treating lung diseases,” Patchen said. “In the future, this could translate into individualized dietary recommendations for people at high risk for chronic lung disease.”

The “Dietary Guidelines for Americans” from the United States Department of Agriculture recommend that people eat at least two to three servings of fish each week, a goal that most Americans fail to meet. Other sources of omega-3 fatty acids, besides fish and fish oil, include nuts and seeds, plant oils, and fortified meals.

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