Is There Any Link Between Fish Oil And Diabetes?
Diabetes is on the increase in the US, and every year somewhere around a million people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. It isn’t usually fatal, but can be and can have serious impacts on the lives of sufferers. Is there any fish oil and diabetes link? Or can fish oil help reduce the impact of diabetes?
Scientists are worried about the rate of diabetes in our society. There are also enormous costs imposed on sufferers as well as the impact on their families and on the health system. So what can be done to reduce the impact of this explosion on diabetes rates?
Certainly there are a range of lifestyle factors which can help with the reduction in diabetes, such as dietary changes, levels of exercise and losing weight. However I normally analyse the benefits of Omega 3 fats, so today I want to look at Omega 3 and diabetes.
There are two important polyunsaturated fats in Omega 3 fish oil, DHA and EPA. And research is now showing clearly that taking fish oil can reduce many of the risks, particularly the heart risks, of diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is a condition characterized by high levels of sugar in the blood. The disease causes insulin in the blood to be unable to sufficiently deal with the levels of blood sugar, so these become elevated.
The result is that the insulin in the blood cannot deal with fats in the blood either, and levels of triglycerides rise, and HDL, (good cholesterol) falls. The figures for the risks to diabetics are frightening. 6 times higher risk of heart attack and up to 8 times higher risk of heart disease.
So is there any fish oil diabetes link? Is there evidence that taking fish oil lowers any of the risks of diabetes? Yes, scientists are finding that taking omega 3 fats from fish oil do indeed lower some of 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 study showed very impressive heart benefits verifying the fish oil diabetes link, including reducing the risk of death by heart attack by up to 45%, and cardiovascular deaths generally by up to 30%.
It is now clear that there is indeed a link between relief from the risks of diabetes by increasing the intake of fish oil.
How should you be getting your fish oil? Well of course eating fish high in fat is a good way, the American Heart Association recommends eating 2 fish meals a week, but there are also warnings for certain people of eating too much fish due to the incidence of some heavy metals and in particular contaminants like mercury in fish.
Fish oil supplements are the best way to add Omega 3 fats to your diet, daily. The very best ones source fish that come from the southern ocean and are very clean to begin with, and have spectacularly high levels of DHA, so these supplements are naturally higher in DHA, and after undergoing molecular distillation there are no detectable levels of contaminants.
So if you have diabetes make sure you’re taking Omega 3 fish oil capsules daily. Use the best ones, and you lower your risk of sudden death very substantially.
Head over to my website to find out which Omega 3 supplements are the best fish oil supplements.
