While it's not scientifically proven that carrots make us see in the dark or crusts make our hair go curly, it is a scientific fact our health is determined by what we eat. Certain vegetables are good for our blood. Starch is good for our bowels and the fatty acids in fish and fish oils can protect our heart.

Dr. Ted McMurchie: "These particular fatty acids, which are derived from fish and fish oils, have been shown in a number of systems to allow the heart to not go into episodes of arrythmia or disturbances in beat."

And Dr. Ted McMurchie, from Australia's Scientific Organisation, CSIRO, knows this is true because of a unique test he has devised. In the laboratory, individual heart cells are placed under a high-speed camera. To make the cells beat together in time, they are stimulated with a weak electrical current. Then they are manipulated to undergo changes in beating similar to those, which would occur during a heart attack. "The system we have developed uses isolated cultured heart cells. And with that system, we are able to mimic many of the actions that occur in the heart."

When minute amounts of fish oil was then added to the heart cells, the disturbances, often the cause of heart attack, were brought under control. Perfecting this technique has not only proven the beneficial effects of eating fish and fish oil, it maybe used in the future to test new, life saving drugs for the treatment of heart disease.

CSIRO Enquiries
Email: Enquiries@csiro.au
Phone: 1300 363 400
Locked Bag 10
Clayton South
VIC 3169