Fish Oil Supplements Cut the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Fish oil supplements are popular among health conscious people, so much so that one in five people take them regularly.  A new study has found that fish oil supplements reasonably increase the level of a hormone that lowers the risk of diabetes as well as heart disease, according to a press release.  

The latest finding published in the journal Endocrinology & Metabolism claims that fish oil supplements, which are also known as omega 3 fatty acids capsules, increase the level to adiponectin in the bloodstream.

This important protein hormone, adiponectin, has positive effects on metabolic processes such as glucose regulation as well as modulation of inflammation. Long term studies linked higher levels of adiponectin to reduced risk of type 2 diabetes as well as coronary heart disease.

According to lead author, Jason Wu, PhD, Harvard School of Public Health, previous animal studies have shown that fish oil increases the circulation of adiponectin. But it is not known whether similar effects are applicable in humans or not. On carefully examining the evidence from the existing randomized clinical trials, it was seen that fish oil supplementation triggered a modest rise of adiponectin in human blood.

This study examined the results from 14 different randomized placebo controlled clinical trials. Out of 682 subjects, 641 were given placebos mostly olive and sunflower oil and the remaining had fish oil. It was seen that those consuming fish oil supplements had 0.37 ug/mL increase in adiponectin levels.

This finding also showed a varied effect of fish oil on adiponectin across the trials, indicating that fish oil supplementation had a strong influence on adiponectin in some population and in others it had a weaker effect.

"Although higher levels of adiponectin in the bloodstream have been linked to lower risk of diabetes and coronary heart disease, whether fish oil influences glucose metabolism and development of type 2 diabetes remains unclear," said Wu in a press statement. "However, results from our study suggest that higher intake of fish oil may moderately increase blood level of adiponectin, and these results support potential benefits of fish oil consumption on glucose control and fat cell metabolism."