Ultra Pure Omega 3 Seal Oil

A MESSAGE

From Dr. Robert Ackman World-Renowned Expert on Fish and Seal Oils

As early as 1960, a doctor in Halifax, Nova Scotia gave seal oil to his patients to improve their blood lipids. He did not know at the time about the good health of the Arctic Eskimos who ate a diet rich in seal meat and oil, and as it was later discovered, seldom suffered heart attacks. The publicity of this discovery, in 1979-80, indicated that the Eskimo benefited from the three long chain Omega-3 Fatty Acids, commonly known as EPA, DHA and DPA.

In the late 1970s, a group of Danish researchers examined the traditional diet of the Greenland Eskimo to find out why they had such a low incidence of cardiovascular disease, despite the fact that their diet had a high fat content. This study marked the beginning of a common health claim - that oils from fish and marine mammals can play a major role in preventing heart disease. More people now identify a difference between types of fat; polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are often referred to now as "good fat." In particular, n-3 fatty acids (better known as omega-3), found in oily fish such as salmon, are becoming widely known as having specific health benefits, including reducing the incidence of fatal cardiac arrhythmias. These fatty acids are also found in high concentrations in the oils of seal and whaleÑstaples of the Eskimo diet. The Danish researchers presumed these were responsible for their low rate of cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Mary Murphy is an Associate Professor of Physiology and Biophysics. She has long known about the cardiovascular benefits of dietary n-3 PUFA, but says there are still many unanswered questions. So, along with Dr. Robert Ackman and Anne Timmins of DalTech's Canadian Institute of Fisheries Technology, Med 1 student Joyce Scott-Coles, and Physiology and Biophysics colleagues Valerie Wright and Dr. Magda Horackova, Dr. Murphy embarked on a study to try to find some of these answers. The group published the results of the first phase of their investigation in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry in December. This phase was designed to determine how marine oil composition influences cardiac ventricular fatty acids and lipids or, simply put, how marine oils affect the structure and, ultimately, the function of the heart. The researchers fed five groups of young guinea pigs different diets for four weeks. The groups were given either a standard, non-purified guinea pig diet (NP) or an NP diet supplemented with one of menhaden fish oil, harp seal oil, shark liver oil, or corn oil. While corn oil contains essentially no n-3 PUFA, it has a high fatty acids in the hearts, and concluded each of the oils has distinct effects on organ structure and on the production of biologically active metabolites in the heart.

Dr. Murphy says the findings from these studies actually make it more difficult to shed light on how seafood can promote healthy heart function. But the fact that it is healthy in our diets is definitely not in dispute. Since the earlier Danish reports, large epidemiological studies have shown that eating one fatty-fish meal per week reduces mortality in people who have had a previous heart attack by almost 30 per cent, and that the same quantity of dietary fish reduces the risk of first-time heart attack by 50 per cent. Dr. Murphy says this makes fish oil more effective than antiarrhythmic drugs in preventing fatal heart attacks, with none of the adverse side effects. Right now, the only source of concentrated marine oil fatty acids heartily approved by the Canadian government is fish. Concentrated and encapsulated oils are readily available in Europe, the United States, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Chile. And in the U.S. (while it took the Food and Drug Administration almost 10 years), menhaden fish oil was recently approved for industrial-scale use in human food products. Dr. Ackman says the Canadian government's reluctance to approve seal oil as a product may be due to competitive market forces. Seal oil would be in direct competition with flaxseed oil supplements, currently produced in western Canada, which provide vegetable oil omega-3 fatty acids.

Now in the next stage of research, the Physiology and Biophysics group is focusing more on how the different diets affect function. Dr. Murphy says the outcome of these studies will be of great interest to the scientific community. But with the surge in public interest on the issue of dietary fat, the results will likely grab the attention of nutrition watchdogs too.

Effect of supplementation with dietary seal oil on selected cardiovascular risk factors and hemostatic variables in healthy male subjects

The average daily consumption of seal oil by the Inuit people is approximately 8-9 g, yet there is very little information on the effect of seal oil consumption on cardiovascular disease risk factors. In this study, 19 healthy, normocholesterolemic subjects consumed 20 g of encapsulated seal oil containing eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5n-3), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3), and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA; 22:5n-3) or 20 g of vegetable oil (control) per day for 42 days. Levels of selected cardiovascular and thrombotic risk factors as well as fatty acid profiles of serum phospholipid and nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) were determined. EPA levels in serum phospholipid and NEFA increased by 4.3- and 2.7-fold, respectively, in the seal oil supplemented group. DHA levels rose 1.5- and 2.1-fold, respectively, and DPA levels rose 0.5- and 0.7-fold, respectively. Arachidonic acid (AA) levels dropped by 26% in both serum phospholipid and serum NEFA.

There was a significant decrease in the ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids in serum phospholipid from 7.2 to 2.1 and a significant increase in the ratio of EPA/AA in NEFA. Ingestion of seal oil raised the coagulant inhibitor, protein C, values by 7% and decreased plasma fibrinogen by 18%. No alterations in other hemostatic variables, including plasma activity of Factors VII, VIII, IX, and X and antithrombin, or in the concentrations of von Willebrand Factor, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose, Apo A-1, or lipoprotein(a) were observed in either group. Other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including hematocrit, white blood cell count, plasma viscosity, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, heart rate, and platelet aggregation after stimulation with ADP or collagen did not change. Our results indicate that seal oil supplementation in healthy, normocholesterolemic subjects decreased the n-6/n-3 ratio and increased EPA, DHA, and DPA and the ratio of EPA/AA and DHA/AA in the serum phospholipid and NEFA, while exhibiting a modest beneficial effect on fibrinogen and protein C levels.

Fish oils were used in medical research in the USA and Europe, and thousands of medical studies have shown that the EPA and DHA of these oils have clinical benefits. In that work, the DPA was ignored because fish oil contains very little. However, it has always been important in human milk fatty acids, now an important research area for DHA in connection with infant brain development and the continued good health of the mother. In ten thousand years, human society has changed from a hunting diet, emphasizing animals and fish, to one dependent on large-scale farming.

Our body biochemistry, based on a model perfected at least a million years ago, will take thousands of generations to adapt to this new lifestyle based on agriculture. The so-called "essential" fatty acids produced by farm products are of a shorter chain length than the Omega-3 fatty acids of seal oil. Our bodies do make the truly essential long-chain fatty acids from the farm products, but slowly, and the Omega-3 type may suffer from competition from the excess of Omega-6 type in them. It is time to go back to enriching the diet of the entire family with all three Omega-3 fatty acids. Seal oil provides an easy solution to re-balancing our fatty acid intake.

Clinical Trial

Effect of supplementation with dietary seal oil on selected cardiovascular risk factors and haemostatic variables in healthy male subjects: Conquer JA, Cheryk LA, Chan E, Gentry PA, Holub BJ.

Effect of supplementation with dietary seal oil on selected cardiovascular risk factors and haemostatic variables in healthy male subjects: Conquer JA, Cheryk LA, Chan E, Gentry PA, Holub BJ.
Research projects on seal oil and seal meat - results so far Results from a research collaboration between National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES) and Haukeland University Hospital (HUH) indicate that seal oil ameliorate musculoskeletal (joint) pain in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The results so far are promising, but larger controlled studies are necessary in order to confirm these results.

Background The research collaboration on seal oil between NIFES and HUS started in 1998. Seal oil is extracted from the seals' blubber and contains a high proportion of the long chained polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids, similar to different kinds of fish oil (approx. 20 %). Both refined and unrefined oils from different seal species have been used. All oils used complied with legislation with respect to content of undesirable substances. Patients at the Institute of Gastroenterology, HUH, suffering from gastrointestinal diseases were the main target group in the research.

The seal oil studies A pilot study, published in 2002(Arslan et al. 2002), examined the effect of giving seal oil to 10 patients suffering from inflammatory diseases (IBD, chronic inflammatory disease, ulcerative colitis, and Crohns disease) and joint pain. When given seal oil (10 ml, 3 times a day) for 10 days via a (nasoduodenal) tube into the small intestine, the patients reported an amelioration of their joint pains. However, the intestinal symptoms were only slightly improved. The treatment was repeated for five of the patients at a later stage, and they were examined by a rheumatologist before and after the treatment, confirming that the joint pain was reduced.

The results of Arslan's pilot study were confirmed through a controlled study published in 2004 (Bjorkkjer et al. 2004). Here, 19 IBD patients with joint pain got the same treatment with seal oil or soy oil for 10 days through a nasoduodenal tube, and were followed up for 6 months after the treatment by a rheumatologist. During the study period the patients receiving seal oil claimed improvement of their joint pain compared to the patients given soy oil. The effect of the seal oil lasted up to several months after the treatment.

Analysis of seal meat A study of nutrients in seal blubber and seal meat was recently carried out and published in Food Chemistry (Brunborg et al. 2005). Seal blubber contains high proportions of long chained unsaturated omega- 3 fatty acids and mono unsaturated fatty acids. Seal meat is lean (< 2 % fat) and is protein rich with a well balanced amino acid composition. In addition, it contains a high concentration of minerals, especially iron. Seal meat has high levels of vitamin A, D3 and B12.

More studies are at various stages of publication (revised version, submitted to be evaluated, or in progress) and will be summarised here when they are published.

More information: Arslan G., Brunborg L.A., Froyland L., Brun J.G., Valen M., and Berstad A. (2002). Effects of duodenal seal oil administration in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Lipids 37, 935-940. Bjorkkjer T., Brunborg L.A., Arslan G., Lind R.A., Brun J.G., Valen M., Klemetsen B., Berstad A., and Froyland L. (2004). Reduced joint pain after short-term duodenal administration of seal oil in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: Comparison with soy oil. Scand. J. Gastroenterol. 11, 1088-1094. Brunborg L.A., Julshamn K., Nordtvedt R., and Froyland L. (2005). Nutritional composition of blubber and meat of hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) and harp seal (Phagophilus groenlandicus) from Greenland. Food Chemistry (Article in press).

Reduced joint pain after short-term duodenal administration of seal oil in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: comparison with soy oil.

Rheumatic joint pain is a common extra-intestinal complication of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Because the high ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids (FAs) of the Western diet might promote rheumatic disorders, we sought to compare the effects of short-term duodenal administration of n-3-rich seal oil and n-6-rich soy oil on IBD-related joint pain. METHODS: Nineteen patients with IBD-related joint pain were included in the study; 9 had Crohn disease and 10 had ulcerative colitis. Ten millilitres seal oil (n = 10) or soy oil (n = 9) was self-administered through a nasoduodenal feeding tube 3 times daily for 10 days. RESULTS: Compared with soy oil treatment, seal oil significantly reduced the duration of morning stiffness (P = 0.024), number of tender joints (P = 0.035), intensity of pain (P = 0.025) and the doctor's scoring of rheumatic disease activity (P = 0.025) at the end of the 10-day treatment period. Analysis of the effects as area under the curve (area between the curve and baseline, zero) for the entire period from start of treatment until 6 months' post-treatment suggested a long-lasting beneficial effect of seal oil administration on joint pain, whereas soy oil tended (not significantly) to aggravate the condition. Consistently, the serum ratios of n-6 to n-3 FAs (P < 0.01) and arachidonic acid to eicosapentaenoic acid (P < 0.01) were reduced after treatment with seal oil. CONCLUSION: The results suggest distinctive, differential prolonged effects on IBD-related joint pain of short-term duodenal administration of n-3-rich seal oil (significant improvement) and n-6-rich soy oil (tendency to exacerbation).

Feeding laying hens seal blubber oil:

Effects on egg yolk incorporation, stereospecific distribution of omega-3 fatty acids, and sensory aspects.

Seventy-two 26-wk-old Single Comb White Leghorn laying hens were randomly assigned to 36 cages (2 per cage) in a 3-orthogonal 4 x 4 latin square, with the fourth row suppressed, to assess the effect of feeding refined seal blubber oil (SBO, containing 22.2% omega-3 fatty acids) on the fatty acid composition and position in the egg yolk lipids. The experiment was conducted over a period of 9 wk. Eggs were collected and numbered, and the weights were recorded for each week and cage.

Eggs collected at wk 5 and 9 were used for total lipid, lipid class, fatty acid, and positional analyses. Sensory evaluation was carried out on eggs collected at wk 6 and 7. Feeding SBO at 1.25% led to an increase (P < 0.0001) in the long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCn3PUFA) and a concomitant decrease (P < 0.0001) in arachidonic acid (ARA) in the egg yolk lipids. Yet this amount of SBO in the diet had no effect (P > 0.1) on the sensory attributes of the egg and on production parameters such as egg weight, number of eggs laid, and feed intake (P > 0.05). When feeding SBO in amounts higher than 1.25% proportionately, a plateau effect of the LCn3PUFA content of the eggs was observed. This appears to be because the PUFA content in the sn-2 position of the phospholipids cannot exceed a certain amount. When this amount is reached, the LCn3PUFA will be increasingly stored in triglycerides. The results presented here clearly indicate how eggs can be produced with optimized composition of LCn3PUFA without affecting (P > 0.1) the sensory properties of the eggs. The procedures elaborated herein provide directly applicable consequences for the food industry.

Modulation of atherosclerotic risk factors by seal oil: a preliminary assessment.

Bonefeld-Jorgensen EC, Moller SM, Hansen JC.

Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, University of Aarhus, DK-8000, Aarhus, Denmark.

We examined whether dietary supplementation with seal oil influenced the risk factors of atherosclerosis in healthy volunteers. Two intervention studies were carried out as preliminary steps in a larger project which aim at elucidating the disease preventive potential of seal oil. In study I ten healthy volunteers added 10 capsules of seal oil to their normal Western diet for six weeks. Blood tests were analysed for total-, HDL-, and LDL-cholesterol and plasma triglyceride, and the ratio of n-6/n-3 fatty acid was determined in plasma and erythrocyte membranes. In study II we examined the effect in five healthy volunteers who had only 5 capsules of seal oil daily for six weeks. As an additional test in study II, the effect on the proinflammatory TNF-alpha cytokine in lymphocytes was determined. A slightly decreased, however, not significant effect was observed for each of the cholesterol's after seal oil supplementation. In both studies plasma triglyceride, and the n-6/n-3 fatty acid ratio of plasma and erythrocytes were significantly reduced upon seal oil intake. During the intervention period of study II a distinct reduced level of TNF-alpha was observed in isolated lymphocytes. The examinations suggest that supplementation of seal oil, 10 capsules or 5 capsules/day, may have beneficial effects on factors thought to be associated with cardiovascular and thrombotic diseases.

A long-term seal- and cod-liver-oil supplementation in hypercholesterolemic subjects.

Brox J, Olaussen K, Osterud B, Elvevoll EO, Bjornstad E, Brattebog G, Iversen H.

Department of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital of Tromso, Norway.

In this long-term study, we wanted to explore the effect of dietary supplementation of seal oil (SO) as compared cod-liver oil (CLO) on subjects with moderate hypercholesterolemia. The test parameters included fatty acid composition in serum, blood lipids, platelet aggregation, and the activity of blood monocytes. After a run-in period of 6 mon, 120 clinically healthy hypercholesterolemic (7.0-9.5 mmol/L; 270-366 mg/dL) subjects were randomly selected to consume either 15 mL of SO or CLO daily for 14 mon followed by a 4-mon wash-out period. A third group was not given any dietary supplement (control). Consumption of marine oils (SO and CLO) changed the fatty acid composition of serum significantly. Maximal levels were achieved after 10 mon. No further changes were seen after 14 mon. A wash-out period of 4 mon hardly altered the level of n-3 fatty acids in serum. Addition of SO gave 30% higher level of eicosapentaenoic acid, as compared to CLO. Subjects taking SO or CLO had lower whole-blood platelet aggregation than the control group. Neither SO nor CLO had any effects on the levels of serum total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, postprandial triacylglycerol, apolipoproteins Al and B100, lipoprotein (a), monocyte function expressed as monocyte-derived tissue factor expression, and tumor necrosis factor.

Dietary menhaden, seal, and corn oils differentially affect lipid and ex vivo eicosanoid and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances generation in the guinea pig.

Murphy MG, Wright V, Scott J, Timmins A, Ackman RG.

Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

This investigation was carried out to characterize the effects of specific dietary marine oils on tissue and plasma fatty acids and their capacity to generate metabolites (prostanoids, lipid peroxides). Young male guinea pigs were fed nonpurified diet (NP), or NP supplemented (10%, w/w) with menhaden fish oil (MO), harp seal oil (SLO), or corn oil (CO, control diet) for 23 to 28 d. Only the plasma showed significant n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-induced reductions in triacylglycerol (TAG) or total cholesterol concentration. Proportions of total n-3 PUFA in organs and plasma were elevated significantly in both MO and SLO dietary groups (relative to CO), and in all TAG fractions levels were significantly higher in MO- than SLO-fed animals. The two marine oil groups differed in their patterns of incorporation of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). In guinea pigs fed MO, the highest levels of EPA were in the plasma TAG, whereas in SLO-fed animals, maximal incorporation of EPA was in the heart polar lipids (PL). In both marine oil groups, the greatest increases in both docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3, DHA) and docosapentaenoic acid (22:5n-3, DPA), relative to the CO group, were in plasma TAG, although the highest proportions of DHA and DPA were in liver PL and heart TAG, respectively. In comparing the MO and SLO groups, the greatest difference in levels of DHA was in heart TAG (MO > SLO, P < 0.005), and in levels of DPA was in heart PL (SLO > MO, P < 0.0001). The only significant reduction in proportions of the major n-6 PUFA, arachidonic acid (AA), was in the heart PL of the SLO group (SLO > MO = CO, P < 0.005). Marine oil feeding altered ex vivo generation of several prostanoid metabolites of AA, significantly decreasing thromboxane A2 synthesis in homogenates of hearts and livers of guinea pigs fed MO and SLO, respectively (P < 0.04 for both, relative to CO). Lipid peroxides were elevated to similar levels in MO- and SLO-fed animals in plasma, liver, and adipose tissue, but not in heart preparations. This study has shown that guinea pigs respond to dietary marine oils with increased organ and plasma n-3 PUFA, and changes in potential synthesis of metabolites. They also appear to respond to n-3 PUFA-enriched diets in a manner that is different from that of rats.

Effects of long-term feeding of marine oils with different positional distribution of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids on lipid metabolism, eicosanoid production, and platelet aggregation in hypercholesterolemic rats.

Ikeda I, Yoshida H, Tomooka M, Yosef A, Imaizumi K, Tsuji H, Seto A.

Laboratory of Nutrition Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were distributed mainly in the sn-1,3 positions of seal oil triglyceride and in the sn-2 position of squid oil triglyceride. Seal oil-rich or squid oil-rich fats having constant saturated/monounsaturated/polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and n-6/n-3 PUFA ratios were fed to exogenously hypercholesterolemic rats for 1 60 d. The control fat contained linoleic acid as the sole PUFA. Before starting the experimental diets, rats were orally treated with high doses of vitamin D for 4 d to accelerate atherogenesis. The percentage of arachidonic acid in phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine of liver, platelets, and aorta was lower in the marine oil groups than in the control group, seal oil being more effective than squid oil. Maximal platelet aggregation induced by collagen was significantly lower in both marine oil groups. Platelet thromboxane (TX) A2 production induced by collagen or thrombin was markedly reduced by feeding seal or squid oils, the reduction being more pronounced in the seal oil than in the squid oil group. Aortic prostacyclin (PGI2) production was the same among the three groups. The ratio of the productions of aortic PGI2 and platelet TXA2 was significantly higher in the seal oil than in the control group. Although there was no difference in intimal thickness among the three groups, the aortic cholesterol content was significantly lower in the marine oil groups than in the control group. These results showed that the main effects in rats of the different intramolecular distributions of EPA and DHA in dietary fats were on arachidonic acid content in tissue phospholipids and on platelet TXA2 production.

Diets enriched in menhaden fish oil, seal oil, or shark liver oil have distinct effects on the lipid and fatty-acid composition of guinea pig heart.

Murphy MG, Wright V, Ackman RG, Horackova M.

Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether diets supplemented with oils from three different marine sources, all of which contain high proportions of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), result in qualitatively distinct lipid and fatty acid profiles in guinea pig heart. Albino guinea pigs (14 days old) were fed standard, nonpurified guinea pig diets (NP) or NP supplemented with menhaden fish oil (MO), harp seal oil (SLO) or porbeagle shark liver oil (PLO) (10%, w/w) for 4-5 weeks. An n-6 PUFA control group was fed NP supplemented with corn oil (CO). All animals appeared healthy, with weight gains marginally lower in animals fed the marine oils. Comparison of relative organ weights indicated that only the livers responded to the diets, and that they were heavier only in the marine-oil fed guinea pigs. Heart total cholesterol levels were unaffected by supplementing NP with any of the oils, whereas all increased the triacylglycerol (TAG) content. The fatty-acid profiles of total phospholipid (TPL), TAG and free fatty acid (FFA) fractions of heart lipids showed that feeding n-3 PUFA significantly altered the proportions of specific fatty-acid classes. For example, all marine-oil-rich diets were associated with increases in total monounsaturated fatty acids in TPL (p < 0.05), and with decreases in total saturates in TAG (p < 0.05). Predictably, the n-3 PUFA enriched regimens significantly increased the cardiac content of n-3 PUFA and decreased that of n-6 PUFA, although the extent varied among the diets. As a result, n-6/n-3 ratios were significantly lower in all myocardial lipid classes of marine-oil-fed guinea pigs. Analyses of the profiles of individual PUFA indicated that quantitatively, the fatty acids of the three marine oils were metabolized and/or incorporated into TPL, TAG and FFA in a diet-specific manner. In animals fed MO-enriched diets in which eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) > docosahexacnoic acid (DHA), ratios of DHA/EPA in the hearts were 1.2, 2.2 and 1.5 in TPL, TAG and FFA, respectively. In SLO-fed guinea pigs in which dietary EPA approximately DHA, ratios of DHA/EPA were 0.9, 3.4 and 2.1 in TPL, TAG and FFA, respectively. Feeding NP + PLO (DHA/EPA = 4.8), resulted in values for DHA/EPA in cardiac tissue of 2.1, 10.6 and 2.9 in TPL, TAG and FFA, respectively. In the TAG and FFA, proportions of n-3 docosapentaenoic acid (n-3 DPA) were equal to or higher than EPA in the SLO- and PLO-fed animals. The latter group exhibited the greatest difference between the DHA/n-3 DPA ratio in the diet and in cardiac TAG and FFA fractions (7, 3.4 and 3.1, respectively). Quantitative analysis indicated that > or = 85% of the n-3 PUFA were in TPL, 7-11% were in TAG, and 2-6% were FFA. Specific patterns of distribution of EPA, DPA and DHA depended on the dietary oil. Both the qualitative and quantitative results of this study demonstrated that in guinea pigs, n-3 PUFA in different marine oils are metabolized and/or incorporated into cardiac lipids in distinct manners. In support of the concept that the diet-induced alterations reflect changes specifically in cardiomyocytes, we observed that direct supplementation of cultured guinea pig myocytes for 2-3 weeks with EPA or DHA produced changes in the PUFA profiles of their TPL that were qualitatively similar to those observed in tissue from the dietary study. The factors that regulate specific deposition of n-3 PUFA from either dietary oils or individual PUFA are not yet known, however the differences that we observed could in some manner be related to cardiac function and thus their relative potentials as health-promoting dietary fats.