DISCUSSION
This investigation showed that substitution of a small amount (1 g daily) of a stable fish oil for
margarine in bread resulted in a significant increase in long-chain n-3 fatty acids in plasma
phospholipids after only 2 weeks. Thus, EPA and DHA increased by 32% and 18%, respectively.
Triglycerides in serum were decreased by 17% after 4 weeks. The results thus show that it is
possible to increase n-3 fatty acids in plasma by a very small increase of n-3 fatty acids in the diet
and to achieve this by substitution of fish oil for a less healthy fat in food consumed in large amounts
by most people. It has been shown earlier that a small amount of n-3 fatty acids can decrease the
incidence of deaths due to coronary artery disease (10,ll).
Earlier investigations of the effects of substituting fish oil for other fats in food have often been
unsuccesful because of a fishy taste of the food. In the present study the fish oil used was extremely
stable as a result of addition of a new mixture of natural antioxidants. Thus only 2 of 195 persons
perceived any foreign, fishy taste from the bread. Recently bread containing added fish oil
microemulsion has been available. Disadvantages of this are a low concentration of fish oil in the
preparation, a high cost and that it can increase blood glucose.