The Greenland Paradox

The positive health effects of EPA and DHA have been known since the 1960s when Bang and Dyerberg² discovered in Greenland, that mortality from cardiovascular diseases was low among the indigenous Inuit people. A surprising discovery since their diet consisted largely of saltwater fish and marine mammals with a very high fat content. This very fat-rich diet would lead researchers at that time to expect a high risk of heart diseases, no. 1 cause of death in many industrialized countries. But these diseases were rarely found among the Inuit. The groundbreaking discovery the scientists made was that “good” fats, especially the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, are beneficial for a healthy heart.

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² Bang et al: Plasma lipid and lipoprotein patterns in
Greenlandic west-coast Eskimos (1971)