CHICAGO -- In what may be good news for people who can't or won't eat fish, the American Heart Association on Monday endorsed fish oil capsules as a substitute for some.

In new guidelines released at the group's Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago, the association stuck by a recommendation originally issued in 2000 that healthy adults eat at least two servings of fish per week, particularly fish such as mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon that contain omega-3 fatty acids, Reuters reported.

Robert Eckel, a cardiologist at the University of Colorado who is chairman of the Heart Association's Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism, said in an interview: "We'd rather that people eat fish" but because the evidence is so strong about the benefits of omega-3 "if they can't or won't" then three fish oil capsules daily is an alternative where indicated.

In the new guidelines, the group also said persons with coronary artery disease could "consider supplements" since the doses of omega-3 available that way may be greater than what can be achieved by diet alone.

It said such patients should do so only in consultation with a doctor.

"Omega-3 fatty acids are not just good fats; they affect heart health in positive ways," said Penny Kris-Etherton, chief author of the report. The substances make blood less likely to form the clots that cause heart attack and protect against irregular heartbeats than can cause sudden cardiac death, she said. The association's scientific statement said that prevention studies have shown omega-3 fatty acids either in fish or as supplements "significantly reduces subsequent cardiac and all-cause mortality."

In addition to fish in the diet the findings support the inclusion of vegetable oils such as soybean, canola, walnut and flaxseed as food sources because they are high in another beneficial acid.

Because there are concerns about environmental contamination in fish, from mercury and other sources, it is recommended that a variety of fish be consumed, it said, adding that it was important as well that fish oil capsules be free of contaminants.

And while studies have indicated supplements can reduce the risk of death and the progression of heart disease, it said, more studies were needed to further define those benefits.