Broiled Fish Is Better than Fried

The American Heart Association has been so high on fish that it has long recommended eating it at least twice a week. But all fish doesn’t make the cut. As the Washington Post reports, the heart association wants us to eat particularly oily fish–those that are high in omega-3 fatty acids– like salmon and tuna, because those are most closely linked to lower levels of heart disease. Now a new study, funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, tells us that there’s little health benefit to eating another kind of fish: fried fish. The Post reports that Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian of the Harvard Medical School examined the hearts of 5,000 older Americans who were given a questionnaire about their diets. After accounting for other factors that play a role in heart disease _ including other foods _ he found that people who regularly consumed broiled or baked fish were more likely to have a lower heart rate and blood pressure, and better blood flow to the heart. In contrast, the Post tells us, those who regularly consumed fried fish or fish sandwiches showed signs of hardening arteries and other cardiac problems.