A study of 2700 Americans of retirement age has found that eating oily fish could raise your life expectancy by more than two years.

The research followed the participants for 16 years and scientists found that those who had higher levels of fatty acids in their blood lived longer.  The findings were published in Annals of Internal Medicine by Harvard and the University of Washington.  Those with high levels of omega-3 acids found in fish such as salmon, mackerel and herring were found to have lower levels of heart disease and lived on average 2.2 years longer.  The overall risk of death during the course of the study was reduced by up to 27 per cent.