Women who ate five or more servings of baked or broiled fish a week had a 30 percent lower risk of heart failure compared with those who ate less than one serving per month, according to a very large study published Tuesday in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation: Heart Failure. But the opposite was true for the fried version—just one serving per month appears to increase risk by 48 percent.

Researchers looked at the diets of 84,493 women 50 to 79. The benefits were stronger among women who ate lots of baked or broiled dark fish, such as blue fish, mackerel, and salmon than among those who ate mostly tuna or white fish, such as snapper, or cod. Consuming baked or broiled fish also seemed to protect against atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. Women who ate more broiled or baked fish also tended to have a lower body mass index, exercise more, and eat more fruits and vegetables than those who consumed fried fish.

Bottom line: More research is needed to further substantiate this study’s results, but eating more baked and broiled fish, and less of the fried stuff can’t hurt. In fact, it might help. Previous research suggests that omega-3 fatty acids, found naturally in the oil of fatty fish like salmon and sardines, cut heart-attack risk by preventing blood clots and abnormal heart rhythms, and by lowering blood pressure and triglyceride levels.

Read more on the risks and benefits of eating fish.

Source
Fish intake and the risk of incident heart failure: the women’s health initiative [Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association]