Supplementation with fish oil can help ease the symptoms of metabolic syndrome for low-fat, high-carb dieters

CÓRDOBA, Spain—Adding to the list of omega-3 health benefits, a recent study found supplementation with fish oil can help ease the symptoms of metabolic syndrome for those following a low-fat, high-carb diet. In fact, the researchers found fish oil was able to reduce the triglyceride-raising effects of low-fat, high-carb diet diets in weight-stable metabolic syndrome patients (doi:10.3945/jn.109.120816, J Nutr. 2010 Jul 14).

The study, published in the September 2010 issue of the Journal of Nutrition, was a multi-center, parallel, randomized, controlled trial that assigned 117 metabolic syndrome patients to one of four diets for 12 weeks: a high-fat (38 percent of calories)/rich in saturated fats (16 percent of calories) diet , a high-fat (38 percent of calories) /rich in monounsaturated fats (such as fish and olive oil) (20 percent of calories) diet, a low fat (28 percent of calories) and high in complex carbohydrates (such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables) diet , or a low fat (28 percent of calories), high in complex carbs diet with a fish oil supplement included. Those who received the fish oil supplement received 1.24 g/d of the long-chain poly unsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) with a ratio of 1.4 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA):1 docosahexaenoic (DHA) acid. All other subjects in the study received a placebo of 1.24 g/d of high-oleic sunflower-seed oil.

Each diet supplied the same number of calories, and researchers measured blood fat levels, including total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and cholesterol, before and after the 12-weeks of supplementation.

They found those following the low-fat, high-carb diet who also received the fish oil had a lower post-study triglyceride concentration (P=0.001) than the other diet groups. However those who ate the low-fat, high-carb diet without the fish oil had an increased level of triglycerides (P = 0.04) and total cholesterol (P=0.001).

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