For the first time, there is evidence that eating tuna, both albacore and light, and dark fish at least once a week can slow the narrowing of arteries in postmenopausal women. The effect was particularly strong in women with diabetes, according to a new study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The study -- based on work supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute -- reported that women who ate one or more servings of tuna or dark fish per week had less change in the diameter of their coronary arteries compared with women who ate these fish less than once a week. As heart disease progresses, arteries become more clogged, and this reduces blood flow to the heart. Women who ate fish at least once a week also had fewer new lesions in their arteries than women who ate fish less often.