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.
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, and HDL cholesterol.
Researchers in the study found that measuring fatty acids could predict mortality similarly to standard risk factors.
Co-author Dr Bill Harris, president of the Fatty Acid Research Institute, explained: “The information carried in the concentrations of four red blood cell fatty acids was as useful as that carried in lipid levels, blood pressure, smoking, and diabetic status with regard to predicting total mortality.
“This speaks to the power of the Omega-3 Index as a risk factor and should be considered just as important as the other established risk factors, and maybe even more so.”
It could also be useful to prevent ill health, delay death and do treatment approach assessments.
A previous 2018 report of 2,500 participants in the Framingham Offspring Cohort found individuals with a high Omega 3 Index were 33 percent less likely to die.
The research also highlighted how omega-3 intake across the world is associated with varying life expectancies.
Study lead researcher Dr Michael McBurney, of the University of Guelph in Canada, said: “It is interesting to note that in Japan, where the mean Omega-3 Index is greater than eight per cent, the expected life span is around five years longer than it is in the United States, where the mean Omega-3 Index is about five percent.
“Hence, in practice, dietary choices that change the Omega-3 Index may prolong life.
“In the final combined model, smoking and the Omega-3 Index seem to be the most easily modified risk factors.
“Being a current smoker, at age 65, is predicted to subtract more than four years of life, compared with not smoking, a life shortening equivalent to having a low versus a high Omega-3 Index.”
Foods rich in omega-3 include:
- Fish and other seafood (especially cold-water fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring, and sardines)
- Nuts and seeds (such as flaxseed, chia seeds, and walnuts)
- Plant oils (such as flaxseed oil, soybean oil, and canola oil).
But if you are not able to get enought through diet alone you can take omega-3 supplements which can be bought over the counter and online.
Some, including from brand Horbaach cost just eight pence per supplement when ordered on Amazon.