featured-image

What is omega 3 and why do we need it? Your life expectancy is impacted by a slew of different factors. Some such as genetics, illness and injury are beyond our control, while others, like our diet and how often we exercise are up to us. Smoking is known to be one of the worst habits we can choose to do for our health.

Not only is it the leading cause of lung cancer worldwide, but it can also raise your risk of heart disease and stroke . But scientists have revealed that a certain deficiency in your diet could actually be even worse for you than smoking. A study found that a lack of omega-3 in the diet can shorten your lifespan even more than the common habit.



READ MORE Expert's five 'surprising' early signs of dementia you could easily miss A study found that lacking in omega-3 could be worse for you than smoking (Image: Getty Images) Scientists found that smoking knocked four years off life expectancy whereas low levels of the fatty acid, mainly found in oily fish such as salmon and mackerel, could reduce it by five years. The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , used statistics from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), one of the longest running studies in the world. The FHS provided unique insights into cardiovascular disease risk factors and led to the development of the Framingham Risk Score based on eight baseline standard risk factors - age, sex, smoking, hypertension treatment, diabetes status, systolic blood pressure , total cholesterol , an.

Back to Health Page