Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21367944›Full record

ArticleThe American journal of clinical nutrition2011

Changes in consumption of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in the United States during the 20th century.

Tanya L Blasbalg, Joseph R Hibbeln, Christopher E Ramsden, Sharon F Majchrzak, Robert R Rawlings

2 registry-linked trialsOpen access · bronzeAbstract readComparative StudyHistorical Article
In one paragraph

Article in The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 419 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
419citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
42.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT01901887 phase1terminatednot on this mapstarted 2014, after this paper: background citation

The Better Resiliency Among Veterans With Omega-3's (BRAVO) Study: A Double Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation Among Military Veterans

TypeinterventionalSponsorMedical University of South CarolinaRan2014 to 2016Enrolled125ConditionsSuicideArmsStudy Juice, Placebo Juice
NCT02908932 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2016, after this paper: background citation

Ranger Resilience and Improved Performance on Phospholipid Bound Omega-3's

TypeinterventionalSponsorMedical University of South CarolinaRan2016 to 2018Enrolled555ConditionsNutrition, Fatty Acids, Omega-3, Cognition, Resilience, PsychologicalArmsPhospholipid-bound omega-3 supplement, Placebo supplement
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

419 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 871 citations in OpenAlex.

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  15. Omega-3 fatty acids reprogram tumor-associated macrophage cytokine signaling and suppress pancreatic cancer growth.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
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359 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Tanya L BlasbalgSection on Nutritional Neuroscience, Laboratory of Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Joseph R Hibbeln
Christopher E Ramsden
Sharon F Majchrzak
Robert R Rawlings
National Institutes of Health · US

Funding

Nutritional Effects On Essential Fatty Acid CompositionZIAAA000235 · NIAAA · NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON ALCOHOL ABUSE AND ALCOHOLISM · PI HIBBELN, JOSEPH · 2009 to 2020
$8.2M
Essential Fatty Acids In Psychiatric DisordersZIAAA000115 · NIAAA · NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON ALCOHOL ABUSE AND ALCOHOLISM · PI HIBBELN, JOSEPH · 2009 to 2020
$7.8M
Intramural NIH HHS
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe consumption of omega-3 (n-3) and omega-6 (n-6) essential fatty acids in Western diets is thought to have changed markedly during the 20th century.

objectiveWe sought to quantify changes in the apparent consumption of essential fatty acids in the United States from 1909 to 1999.

designWe calculated the estimated per capita consumption of food commodities and availability of essential fatty acids from 373 food commodities by using economic disappearance data for each year from 1909 to 1999. Nutrient compositions for 1909 were modeled by using current foods (1909-C) and foods produced by traditional early 20th century practices (1909-T).

resultsThe estimated per capita consumption of soybean oil increased >1000-fold from 1909 to 1999. The availability of linoleic acid (LA) increased from 2.79% to 7.21% of energy (P < 0.000001), whereas the availability of α-linolenic acid (ALA) increased from 0.39% to 0.72% of energy by using 1909-C modeling. By using 1909-T modeling, LA was 2.23% of energy, and ALA was 0.35% of energy. The ratio of LA to ALA increased from 6.4 in 1909 to 10.0 in 1999. The 1909-T but not the 1909-C data showed substantial declines in dietary availability (percentage of energy) of n-6 arachidonic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Predicted net effects of these dietary changes included declines in tissue n--3 highly unsaturated fatty acid status (36.81%, 1909-T; 31.28%, 1909-C; 22.95%, 1999) and declines in the estimated omega-3 index (8.28, 1909-T; 6.51, 1909-C; 3.84, 1999).

conclusionThe apparent increased consumption of LA, which was primarily from soybean oil, has likely decreased tissue concentrations of EPA and DHA during the 20th century.

Indexed as

AlgorithmsDatabases, FactualDietDocosahexaenoic AcidsEicosapentaenoic AcidEnergy IntakeFatty Acids, Omega-3Fatty Acids, Omega-6Food AnalysisFood SupplyHistory, 20th CenturyHumansLinoleic AcidNutritional StatusNutrition SurveysSoybean OilDocosahexaenoic AcidsEicosapentaenoic AcidFatty Acids, Omega-3Fatty Acids, Omega-6Linoleic AcidSoybean Oil

Identifiers

PMID21367944
PMCPMC3076650
OpenAlexW2117994717

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.