Benefits of salmon eating on traditional and novel vascular risk factors in young, non-obese healthy subjects

Abstract Aim The present clinical study tested the hypothesis that oil-rich fish consumption improves CHD risk factors. Methods Forty-eight (16 men) non-obese, healthy adults aged 20–55, consumed 125 g/day of salmon for a 4-week period followed by a 4-week period with no-fish (41 completers). Subjects were instructed to maintain dietary and physical activity patterns during the period of study. Blood pressure, anthropometric, body composition and dietary information with fasting blood samples to determine traditional and novel CHD risk markers and plasma fatty acids were obtained before and after each period. Results Compared to no-fish, eating salmon significantly decreased systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure by 4%, triglycerides by 15%, and LDL-cholesterol by 7%, and significantly increased HDL-cholesterol by 5% ( P < 0.05). The changes in blood pressure and lipids alone with salmon intake predict around a 25% reduction in CHD risk based on the PROCAM risk calculator. Plasma adiponectin demonstrated a trend towards improvement (8.39 μmol/L with salmon and 7.52 with no-fish; P = 0.086) but no significant changes were found either in plasma leptin, glucose or insulin after salmon consumption. Conclusions Daily consumption of salmon improves traditional risk predictors of CHD in non-obese subjects. Adiponectin may be involved but the impact on novel risk factors needs study in high-risk subjects.