Taking fish oil-based dietary supplements is something countless Americans do as way to try to improve heart health. Now, a study conducted by scientists at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine has found that eating plenty of baked or broiled fish may lower your long-term risk of heart failure.

The report, which appeared in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure, announced women who eat five or more servings of baked or broiled fish each week are 30 percent less likely to have a heart attack, compared to those who only eat such fish once a month or less.

Researchers noted that dark fish, such as salmon, bluefish and mackerel, were particularly closely associated with improvements in heart health.

Also, the team found that eating fried fish appears to have the opposite effect. Eating even one serving of fried fish each week increased the risk of heart failure among women by 48 percent. They attributed this discrepancy to the use of oils and fats for frying.

The group concluded that the omega-3 fatty acid content of fish may be partially responsible for this phenomenon.

Individuals who take daily vitamin supplements may be able to get all the omega-3s they would otherwise derive from several servings of fish.