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Fish Oil May Fight Diabetes

Omega-3 Fatty Acid Linked to Decreased Risk of Type 1 Diabetes

September 25, 2007

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Preliminary research suggests that children at increased risk for type 1 diabetes who eat fish and other foods containing omega-3 fatty acids have a reduced risk of pancreatic islet autoimmunity, or IA, which is linked to the development of diabetes.

Certain dietary factors have been associated with the onset of type 1 diabetes as well as the autoimmune process that leads to the disease.

“Type 1 diabetes mellitus is an autoimmune disease that is characterized by the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreatic islets. Although it is not yet known what initiates the autoimmune process, it is likely that both genetic background and environmental factors contribute to the disease process,” the authors write in the September 26 issue of JAMA.

Researchers at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, Denver, examined whether consumption of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are associated with the development of antibodies against the cells in pancreas that produce insulin in children.

The study, conducted between 1994 and 2006, included 1,770 children at increased risk for type 1 diabetes, defined as either possession of a high diabetes risk HLA (human leukocyte antigen) genotype or having a sibling or parent with type 1 diabetes. The average age at follow-up was 6.2 years. IA was assessed in association with reported dietary intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids starting at age 1 year. Fish is the primary source of marine polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Childhood diet was measured using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ).

A case-cohort study also was conducted in which risk of IA by polyunsaturated fatty acid content of the outer portion of the red blood cell was examined.

Fifty-eight children became positive for IA during follow-up. Adjusting for HLA genotype, family history of type 1 diabetes, caloric intake, and total omega-6 fatty acid intake, total omega-3 fatty acid intake was inversely associated with IA risk (a 55 percent reduced risk).

“Our study suggests that higher consumption of total omega-3 fatty acids, which was reported on the FFQ, is associated with a lower risk of IA in children at increased genetic risk of type 1 diabetes,” the researchers write.

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