Does Omega-3 Decrease Diabetes?

By Kate McHugh, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Could eating more fish, walnuts and eggs decrease your risk for developing type-1 diabetes? Preliminary data in children suggests it may.

While it is believed the development of type-1 diabetes has some hereditary influences, research also suggests environmental factors -- including diet -- play a role. Researchers from The Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes in Aurora, Colo. report a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids may be associated with a decreased risk of pancreatic islet autoimmunity, a condition associated with the development of type-1 diabetes.

“The majority of kids with diabetes autoimmunity will go on to get diabetes, but it could be years before they do,” study author Jill Norris, Ph.D., professor of preventive medicine and biometrics at the University of Colorado in Denver, told Ivanhoe. “You can actually have autoimmunity for a while before you get clinical diabetes.”

Dr. Norris said, on average, children develop islet autoimmunity around age four. However, the average age of diagnosis of clinical diabetes is 10 or 11. Dr. Norris said further studies are necessary to help identify what contributes to the development of autoimmunity.

“Once we get these other studies done in other populations and [begin] understanding the mechanism more, it really does suggest we could do nutritional-based intervention to prevent diabetes,” Dr. Norris said.

Omega-3 fatty acids are found naturally in fatty fish like salmon, herring and mackerel, as well as flax seed, eggs and walnuts.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Jill M. Norris, Ph.D.; The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2007;298:1420-1428