Is carp good for the heart?

Czechs are traditionally fond of carp. Eating it year round – not just at Christmas – could bring health benefits, scientists say. (ČTK)

Ceske Budejovice, Dec 22 (CTK) - Czech scientists will
launch a unique three-year project, first of this kind in the world,
focused on the impact of the consumption of carp meat on the condition of patients
with heart disorders, members of the research team told reporters Monday.

Researchers from Vodnany, south Bohemia, will feed carp with a special
fodder enriched with beneficial substances, and then they will serve the
fish to patients in the spa of Podebrady, central Bohemia.

The aim of the project is to increase the consumption of fish by proving
its positive impact on human health.

A total of 120 patients who have undergone heart surgery will be served
carp fillets three times a week for one and a half months, said Pavel
Kozak, representative of the Research Institute of Fish Culture and
Hydrobiology at the University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice.

The project, in which researchers, a local fishery company and the
Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (IKEM) in Prague cooperate,
is unique since it is processing the topic from three different points of
view and it will provide practical results.

Experts in genetics have selected ideal carp types for the project.

The carp in at least nine ponds in Vodnany will be fed with the special
fodder, including rape and flax oils, as from May. The fodder is to
increase the contents of the Omega-3 fatty acids, which play an important
role in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, explained Jan Mraz,
specialist in the research into the fish meat quality.

Mraz is a member of the team cooperating with the Swedish university in
Uppsala where scientists are testing the influence of salmon and trout
consumption. In September they received a prestigious international award
for their research.

The Czech project has been inspired, among others, by the study focused on
food of the Eskimos in Greenland who do not suffer from heart diseases at
all thanks to the positive impact of the fish consumption.

In the Czech Republic, however, cardiovascular diseases are responsible for
some 50 percent of all deaths, while the annual fish consumption in the
country is record low - only five kilos of fish per capita, one kilo of
which is river fish.