Saturday, July 25, 2009

What Is The Link Between Fish Oil And Diabetes?

By Peter Bertonich

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?

There are many scientists worried about the diabetes epidemic, and worried about the most serious impacts of this one sufferers and their families, including huge financial costs on them and the health system.

There are certainly a range of lifestyle factors that can assist in the reduction of the risks and impact of diabetes, like improving diet and exercise levels and losing weight, but as I mainly look at the value of Omega 3 fats I'll concentrate on that.

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 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 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%.

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.

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 it seems clear, if you suffer from type 2 diabetes there are good reasons to include Omega3 fish oil supplements in your diet daily.The lowering of the risks of death and disease are so striking its worth making the effort to up your intake of fish oil, daily.

Visit my website to find out which Omega 3 fish oil supplements are the best.

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