Soy what? A modified soybean oil may be as effective as fish oil in preventing heart attacks.

The American Heart Association recommends eating two servings per week of fatty fish which is high in EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), like mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna, and salmon. Eating these fish, which have high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, has been associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, many Americans don’t like eating fish because of the taste, preparation, and/or concern that it may be contaminated by mercury or other pollutants.

Here at the AHA meeting, investigators evaluated a new type of oil from soybeans that have been modified through biotechnology to produce increased levels of omega-3 EPA in red blood cells. “This soybean oil could be an effective alternative to fish oil as a source of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids,” said William Harris, Ph.D., lead author of the study and chief of cardiovascular health research at Sanford Research/USD and professor of medicine at Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota in Sioux Falls. “We know that giving pure EPA to people reduces their risk for heart disease. “Presumably, if you gave this special soybean oil to people, you’d do the same thing — reduce heart attacks.”

Harris and his colleagues recruited healthy volunteers in Cincinnati, Sioux Falls and Chicago into the double-blind study. “Our goal was to see if the oil from the genetically engineered soybean would raise red blood cell levels of EPA,” he said.

EPA levels rose 17.7% in the individuals given the enriched soybean oil and 19.7% in a group receiving pure EPA plus regular soybean oil. Regular soybean oil, like you’d buy at the grocery store, did not raise cellular EPA levels at all.

Dr. Harris said, “This oil could make a major contribution to our national omega-3 intake. The supply could be virtually endless, and it would provide omega-3s without putting additional pressure on fish stocks. What’s more, it will be free of contamination from mercury, PCBs or dioxins, the harmful things that can get into some types of fish,” he said. “Our next step is to formulate this SDA soybean oil into food products such as breakfast bars, yogurts and salad dressings, and then do a study to see if it is absorbed by the body and converted to EPA.”