The statistics on diabetes are frightening. Every year somewhere around a million Americans are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Although it can be fatal, more often it isn’t, but can have a serious impact on the lives of sufferers. Is there any fish oil and diabetes link, or can taking fish oil supplements reduce the impact of diabetes?
The increase in the rate of diabetes in our population has scientists worried. Along with the impact on the lives of the diabetes sufferers and their family there are enormous costs imposed on the health system and the sufferer, often for life. So what can be done to lower the incidence of diabetes in the population?
There’s well known lifestyle factors that help with diabetes like improving levels of exercise and improving diet and losing weight. But my interest is in the impact of Omega 3 and diabetes, so today I’ll look at that.
There is now clear evidence of a link between fish oil and diabetes showing that taking fish oil supplements can reduce some of the risks associated with diabetes. Fish oil has Omega 3 fats in it, and the main Omega 3 fats the are of benefit are DHA and EPA.
Type 2 diabetes is a disease that results in insulin in the blood being unable to sufficiently deal with sugar in the blood, resulting in excess levels of sugar.
Not only is the insulin unable to deal with the sugar but it is also less able to deal with the uptake of fats in the blood into the cells, so the levels of bad fats in the blood rise too. HDL, (good cholesterol) goes down and triglycerides go up, and the result is that the figures for heart disease amongst diabetics is scary. Risk of heart attack is 6 times normal, and the risk of heart disease is up to 8 times higher.
So what is the fish oil and diabetes link? Is there any evidence that taking Omega 3 fish oil has any effect on diabetes? Yes, scientists are now convinced that omega 3 fish oil and diabetes relief are inextricably linked, and that taking fish oil lowers the risks of diabetes.
Why is there a fish oil supplements and diabetes link? Because fish oil is a polyunsaturated fatty acid, and studies have shown that polyunsaturated Omega 3 fats reduce the amount of triglycerides in the blood, reduce abnormal heart rhythms, reduce blood pressure by small but significant amounts, and improve blood clotting regulation.
One large study studying the fish oil diabetes link found that one gram of fish oil a day reduced deaths from cardiovascular events by up to 30% and reduced the risks of death by heart attack by up to 45%. That’s pretty impressive.
A number of studies have now confirmed that diabetes and fish oil intake are linked, that more omega 3 in the diet helps reduce the negative effects of type 2 diabetes.
So how to get your fish oil? The AHA recommends 2 fish meals a week, but for some they also recommend limiting the intake of some fish due to the levels of some contaminants in fish, like mercury and PCBs. That’s scary.
So by far the best way to get daily Omega 3 in the diet is to take the very best Omega 3 supplements. The best ones use fish from the southern ocean, the cleanest ocean in the world. These fish are naturally high in DHA and EPA, and the oil taken is then purified by a process called molecular distillation so that the are no detectable levels of nasty contaminants in the oil.
So clearly there is good evidence that if you suffer from type 2 diabetes there are reasons to take Omega 3 fish oil supplements daily. You lower your risks from the diabetes, including lowering your risk of sudden death.
You can find out which Omega 3 capsules are the best on my website.
