Sally Metcalfe wants to know:

Roger - which fish do you like most? And what is your favourite recipe?

Roger Black and Dr Ray Rice said:

My favourite fish Sally is Sea Bass and I cook it very simply in a bit of butter with maybe mash potatoes and green beans. Very simple, very easy and very nice! But I love salmon sushi.

Dawn Wilkins wants to know:

On the Scottish Quality Salmon website it says that eating two portions of Salmon a week can protect your heart. Is this true?

Dr Ray said:

Yes, the evidence have been evaluated but a team of independent scientists and they have agreed that the evidence does support the view that eating fish twice a week does reduce risk of death from a heart attack.

Stuart wants to know:

I eat fish three to four times a week is that enough to get all the omega 3"s I need?

Dr Ray said:

It does depend on what type of fish you are eating. The recommendation is that you should eat at least two portions of fish per week. One of which should be oily fish such as herring, mackerel, sardine and salmon etc. Following on that advice will ensure an adequate intake of Omega-3.

Barry wants to know:

What are "Omega-3" and "Omega-6" fatty acids?

Dr Ray said:

Omega-3 and Omega-6 are two different types of poly unsaturate. Both types are required to be in the human diet because we need both for optimal health and we cannot make them ourselves.

Jan wants to know:

I've heard that omega-6s are "bad" and "omega-3s are "good"? Is this true?

Dr Ray said:

The terms good and bad are little misleading. Both Omega-3 and Omega-6 have to be present in the human diet if our health is not to suffer. However, if we have too much of one and not enough of the other then health can suffer even then. In the UK at present we consume about eight times more Omega-6 than Omega-3 and this is not ideal. Experts recommend that we should double our intake of Omega-3 but that we should not increase our intake of Omega-6.

Jane Mills wants to know:

What is the difference between good fats and bad fats?

Dr Ray said:

The bad fats are basically those that are what we call saturated. They are found mostly in animal fats such as butter, lard and the fat from red meat animals. The good fats are those that are unsaturated or polyunsaturated. They have beneficial effects on health. It is desirable to reduce intake of the bad fats.

Mark wants to know:

Roger, as a professional athlete, you must have had a very strict diet. What was a typical day's diet worth of meals like for you

Roger said:

I retired nearly seven years ago Mark, so my memory is vague although I did seem to be eating all the time when I was in training. It was always a challenge to eat enough protein so most meals comprised of fish or chicken plus rice and vegetables. I wasn't particularly strict about what I ate compared to many athletes because I saw too many people become paranoid about what they ate and I felt that often caused more problems than just enjoying food whenever you are hungry.

Becky said:

How did you manage to keep your diet interesting if you were limited to what foods you could eat?

Roger said:

I didn't feel like I was limited. Basically I just ate what I felt like, but tended to make the right nutritional choices.

Julie Day wants to know:

Roger, when did you find out you had a heart valve condition and how did you deal with this?

Roger said:

I was eleven years old, it was my school medical. From that moment on I see a specialist at least once a year. It was a shock to begin with but because I never felt ill it wasn't something that affected me. The good news was I was not allowed to do cross country at school which I was very pleased about! In time I was allowed to do more and more sport but have always been monitored especially when I was an athlete.

Bill wants to know

When did you first realise fish was good for your heart?

Roger said:

To be honest I tended to eat fish primarily as a source of protein. It's only recently that I've begun to realise the importance of Omega-3, which is present in oily fish....

Dr Ray said:

We first became aware that fish had heart-protected qualities back in the 1970s. We realised that populations that ate a lot of fish such as the Japanese, the Spanish and Portuguese had a low level of heart disease. From then on a number of investigations were started and the result is that now we have a good body of scientific evidence to show that Omega-3 is indeed protective. The evidence is considered so strong that the food industry has recently giver permission to make label health claims for Omega-3 in relation to heart disease reduction.

Pam wants to know:

Are there any particular/additional benefits to the over 50 age group from including Omega 3 fats in our diets?

Dr Ray said:

Yes there are lots. Depression is much less common in people that eat a lot of fish. As is dementia. Joints are better protected against arthritis and various types of cancer in particular skin, colon, breast and prostate are less common in fish eaters.

Barney wants to know:

Can you get enough Omega-3 from things like cod liver oil tablets?

Dr Ray said:

The answer is yes and no. You have to read the label to find out how much Omega-3 is provided in a capsule. I have seen capsule with 50mg and I have seen capsules with 400mg. 50mg is not enough and 400mg is fine. So it depends on which capsule you are taking.

William wants to know:

Hi from the US. Using Imperial Measure (metric hasn't caught on) how much fish in ounces do you recommend & what is the best variety, keeping in mind the risk of pollution?

Dr Ray said:

The advice given by the UK government is that people should eat two portions of fish a week. A portion is defined of 140grams, which in imperial measure is about 6-7 ounces. As far as which fish should be consumed you should refer to the FDA advice simply because I am not familiar with American fish species. In general smaller short lived fish are advisable compared with large long lived fish (i.e. marlin, swordfish etc)

Pam wants to know:

Does Roger have any tips for keeping fit and supple that he thinks would help those of us who are 50 plus?

Roger said:

I think the secret to exercise is to find an activity that you enjoy, to preferably exercise with other people to make it fun and most importantly to exercise regularly instead of in concentrated bursts. Yoga is an excellent way to keep supple and recently I have started swimming two or three times a week and I personally find that an excellent way to stay fit without putting my body under too much strain.

Christoffer Rosquist wants to know:

My friend says that carbs are to be avoided as in the Atkins diet. As Atkins was overweight I don't trust him. What do you do think?

Dr Ray said:

There is little doubt in my mind that the Atkins diet does work like any diet if you can stick to it. The importance of Atkins is to rigidly exclude carbohydrates. Fish is an excellent food for Atkins dieters because it has no carbohydrates. The key thing about Atkins is that any small amount of cheating on carbohydrates will destroy the benefit of a whole weeks dieting.

Paul wants to know:

Do you have any advice to give to young athletes?

Roger said:

Athletics is a very natural sport. When we are young our talent and enjoyment for running makes it easy to achieve success. However, as we get older and the competition gets harder the pressure to perform can put a lot of people off the sport. My advice is to make what is in many ways a very individual sport as much fun as possible so find a group to train with. Local clubs can provide guidance and companionship so they should always be the first point of contact so long as the individual really wants to compete. I didn't start to train or compete seriously until I had left school at 18. Before that I preferred to play football or rugby. In other words the most important thing is to really enjoy the sport you choose.

David Screech wants to know

: "Hi, Roger due to a valve defect from birth I had a titanium mitral valve fitted in ’96.

There have been no problems with the valve since although I did develop high blood pressure. Recently, my heart went into arrhythmia and fibrillation and I had to spend a couple of days in hospital. Now I am re-released into the community, can you advise me on whether I should start to walk more right away, rest and then begin to ramp up my walking or should I just rest? All the best and well done for representing your country – and yourself – so magnificently on the track and off it.

Roger said:

Hi David! I too have an incompetent heart valve (mine is the aortic) unlike you I have no problems to date. It is not for me to advise you since like myself I am sure you have a specialist to turn to who can give you solid guidance. I do believe however that nobody knows your body better than you and it is important to listen to your body and especially your rate of breathlessness and recovery when exercising. Good luck on your recovery programme.

Bill wants to know:

Roger did you find it hard to adjust your eating habits when you retired from professional exercise?

Roger said:

For the first year of retirement I ate whatever I wanted to. Especially all the food I avoided as an athlete. I thoroughly enjoyed myself but did put on weight. My vanity then took hold and I am now even more conscious of what I eat than when I was an athlete simply because I no longer burn as many calories.

Jo wants to know:

I've heard having Omega 3 can actually help you lose weight. Is this true?

Dr Ray said:

There is some evidence to suggest that if you had a good Omega-3 supply losing weight on a calorie restricted diet is somewhat easier and more effective. However, this evidence is somewhat preliminary and needs to be confirmed by additional studies before we can be sure.

Ian wants to know:

Can you be dependent on this kind of "supplement". I mean that if you are taking it regularly for e.g. 1 year and after that stopped using it, if it will not hurt you body.

Roger said:

Omega-3 is or should be a part of the regular food intake. In that sense we are dependant on it in the same way we are dependant on Vitamin C. If you stop taking an Omega-3 supplement the level of Omega-3 in your body will gradually fall and you will be at an increasing risk of different health problems.

Zagatto wants to know:

Hiya :) I have started my son on omega 3 supplements. He was having trouble concentrating at school, and I understood that this kind of supplement helps with concentration and learning. Is this true please?

Dr Ray said:

Yes it is true. The human brain requires both Omega-3 and Omega-6 polyunsaturates to be in good shape. Most people in the UK have plenty of Omega-6 but not enough Omega-3. The way their brain functions can be affected by this. This we think is the reason that when you give children more Omega-3 their reading improves, their spelling improves and their behaviour improves. All this was demonstrated in a recently published scientific paper reporting on work carried out in Durham. The children there were given a fish oil supplement providing about 500mg of Omega-3 daily for three months. During that period their reading age advanced by over twelve months. Their spelling age about six months and their behaviour improved markedly.

Ben wants to know:

Who benefits more from EFAs (essential fatty acids); over 50s or younger children?

Dr Ray said:

EFAs are required for all ages from birth to old age, so it is not possible to say who benefits more. In general as you get older health problems become more common and so perhaps the elderly have more to gain in the short term from EFA supplementation. At the same time if young people have a good intake of Omega-3s they are less likely to develop health problems, as they get older.

Brenda wants to know:

Why is the British diet lacking in Omega 3?

Dr Ray said:

There are a number reasons why this is the case Brenda. First of all we eat less fish than we use to eat and the fish we eat have lower levels of Omega-3. At the same time we have increased our intake of Omega-6 polyunsaturates as a consequence of the health messages to "eat more polyunsaturates" put out during the 1960s - 70s. The consequence of all these factors that our Omega-3 intake is half of what it used to be and Omega-6 intake has more than doubled. The ideal relationship between these two is about 1 to 1. The current Uk diet supplies 8 or 9 times more Omega-6 than Omega-3.

Our final question for today's chat comes from Rose Dean who wants to know:

Do pregnant women need EFAs?

Dr Ray said:

Yes, very much so. The unborn child has an absolute need for the essential fatty acids (Omega-6 & Omega-3). If mothers diet does not contain adequate amounts of these essential nutrients then her body stores will be robbed to ensure baby gets enough. This can result in the mother’s brain being depleted of Omega-3, which in turn may make her more susceptible to postnatal depression and other health problems. If the baby's supply of Omega-3 is not adequate then the development of its intelligence may be impaired.

Moderator said:

Following Zagatto's question, William has advised us "yes" and to visit the Durham County Council's website on this double-blind study by Oxford University!!! "