FoodConsumer.org has just published a article titled, Fish Consumption Lowers Risk of Ischemic Stroke in which it reports on a recent study in which a correlation was established between fish consumption and reduced risk of ischemic stroke. What is ischemic stroke? It’s “the one that involves the blockage of blood vessels.” Here’s what the study found:

The present study found that consumption of fish can reduce the risk of ischemic stroke. The risk of ischemic stroke can be reduced by 9% in those who eat fish 1 to 3 times a month, by 13 % in those who eat at least once a week, and by up to 30% in those who eat fish 5 times a week or more.

No link was found between fish consumption and the risk of hemorrhagic stroke, “the kind that involves bleeding in the blood vessels.” What did the authors have to say about fish oil supplements?

The authors also suggested that fish oil supplements may not match up with fish in reducing ischemic stroke. They argued that the dose of omega-3 PUFAs used in the experiments is much higher than that in the diet. Also, there may be some synergistic effect from other components in fish that are missing in the fish oil supplements.

What components? Fish bones or fish eyes? Maybe the scales? Perhaps these researchers weren’t familiar with several other studies published on the subject, like one published in 2003 titled Association of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids with stability of atherosclerotic plaques, in which fish oil enhanced stability of plaques in the arteries.