Dietary omega 3 fatty acids and gestational hypertension in the Inuit.

Blood pressure at the end of pregnancy and the incidence of pregnancy-induced hypertension were monitored in Inuit communities in the Keewatin region of the Northwest Territories. Communities with more fish and sea mammals in their diet had a lower blood pressure at the end of pregnancy and a lower incidence of gestational hypertension. The lower incidence of gestational hypertension was independent of other variables, including pregravida weight and parity. Cord blood phospholipid fatty acid analysis confirmed higher levels of eicosapentanoic acid, a fatty acid enriched in fish and sea mammals, in infants born to mothers from communities with higher fish in their diets.