Protect your heart without aspirin -- or its risks Q: Does white willow bark have the same risks for gastrointestinal bleeding as aspirin? Dr. Wright: White willow bark offers all the same pain-relieving benefits as aspirin, but without the additional risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. However, if you're taking aspiring for its supposed heart-health benefits, there's a much better alternative -- fish oil. Both aspirin and fish oil reduce the inflammation in your cardiovascular system. But aspirin reduces your risk of heart attack by interfering with blood clotting, or platelet aggregation. Fish oil, on the other hand, reduces your risk of heart attack by literally doing a "lube job" on your platelets, so they can't stick together abnormally. Fish oil also reduces your risk of sudden cardiac death, reduces abnormally high triglycerides, increases HDL ("good") cholesterol and decreases abnormally high levels of fibrinogen (another independent cardiovascular risk factor), and reduces your risk of "re-stenosis" (re-clogging) of your coronary arteries, if you've been unfortunate enough to have had coronary artery surgery. For adults, I recommend at least 1 tablespoon of fish oil every day, and if your cardiovascular risk is elevated, take 1 tablespoon twice daily. I usually recommend cod liver oil, since it also supplies a substantial amount of vitamin D. Don't forget to take 400 IU of vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) daily for each tablespoonful of fish oil. And make sure that the brand of fish oil you use has no heavy metals, especially mercury, and is free of other toxins. | 
