The recent study involved the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) in Barcelona, Spain, and the Fatty Acid Research Institute (FARI) in Sioux Falls, SD.

The researchers’ goal was to find out what role omega-3 plays in life expectancy. They tracked 2,240 participants over 11 years and analyzed omega-3 levels in the participants’ blood.

They divided the study participants into four groups:

• people with a high omega-3 level who did not smoke
• people with a high omega-3 level who did smoke
• people with a low omega-3 level who did not smoke
• people with a low omega-3 level who did smoke

According to their analysis, people with high omega-3 levels in their blood who did not smoke had the highest survival estimate. People with high omega-3 levels who did smoke and those with low omega-3 levels who did not smoke were almost identical in terms of survival estimates.