Keep your heart healthy—without the risk of internal bleeding

Q: My doctor wants me to start taking aspirin daily to "take care of my heart." But I'm just not convinced…what do you think?

Dr. Wright: I've said it before, and I'll say it again—fish oil reduces heart attack risk as well as or better than aspirin. Without the risks. And with many other beneficial effects that aspirin can't touch.

Both aspirin and fish oil reduce the inflammation in your cardiovascular system. Aspirin does this by interfering with the clotting process. Fish oil just does it differently—by doing a "lube job" on your platelets, so they can't stick together abnormally.

Not only that, it reduces your risk of sudden cardiac death, reduces abnormally high triglyercides, and increases HDL cholesterol. Aspirin, well…doesn't.

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.

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