13) TYPE 2 DIABETES SUPPLEMENTS
b) The Benefits of Fish Oil
Eating fish and taking fish oil supplements is just very healthy for everyone. Study after study has shown that eating a lot of fish oil can cut the incidence of heart disease and stroke in half for everyone. This is a huge improvement. Anyone with type 2 diabetes has to eat fish whenever possible; the benefit is just too great to ignore it. The benefits from eating fish come largely from the presence of two omega 3 oils in the fish: eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), both found in fatty cold water fish like salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, and trout. The two oils act differently in the human body but both are extremely beneficial. Luckily most sources contain both oils in about equal amounts.
The Harvard Medical School Nurses' Health Study of 65,173 U.S. female registered nurses found a very strong irrefutable benefit on coronary heart disease from omega 3 fish oils. Much of the benefit came from an effect that fish oil seems to have on the electrical system of the heart. Many fatal heart attacks occur due to so called "fatal arrhythmias". Arrhythmias are irregular heart rhythms caused by the heart's electrical signal system failing. Most heart attacks don't actually consist of the heart stopping its beating; rather the heart enters a fatal arrhythmia, where the heart just quivers rather than beating. Typically this arrhythmia is the result of a clot or blood stoppage in one of the arteries supplying blood to the heart. Sometimes this arrhythmia just occurs out of the blue, for no apparent reason.
This arrhythmia or quivering is known as fibrillation. The electric "paddles" seen on TV shows to ostensibly bring a person back to life by "starting" their heart are known as defibrillators and they actually act by stopping the heart, thus allowing the natural sinus rhythm to start again. Fish oil tends to prevent this fatal arrhythmia by blocking key sodium and calcium channels in the heart. It apparently acts much like the drugs called calcium channel blockers. Fish oil is also a surprisingly powerful natural blood thinner, dropping "platelet adhesion" by 60 to 65% in experiments. This natural blood thinning prevents the formation of clots, which are the primary cause of heart attacks and strokes.
The Harvard Medical School Nurses' Health Study of 65,173 U.S. female registered nurses found a strong benefit on coronary heart disease from omega 3 fish oils:
"The researchers noted a strong correlation between the risk of coronary heart disease and fish intake. Women who consumed fish once a week had a 40% lower risk of coronary heart disease than did women who consumed fish less than once per month. Eating fish 5 times per week reduced coronary heart disease risk by 64% and overall mortality by 52%. Only dark-meat fish (mackerel, salmon, sardines, tuna, bluefish, and swordfish) and shrimp, lobster and scallops showed a beneficial effect. The researchers also calculated the amount of fish oils (eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid) obtained from the diet and found that study participants with an average intake of just 250 mg/day had a 31% reduction in coronary heart disease and a 37% reduction in death from all causes compared to participants with a low (40 mg or less) daily intake."
Per "Blood. 1990 Sep 1;76(5):938-45":
"Platelet adhesion to fibrinogen and collagen I, which was studied at low shear rates in a laminar flow chamber, showed a striking 60% to 65% decrease after fish oil supplementation of the diet."Per the Harvard Medical School, Boston:
"Animal experiments show that fatty acids from n-3 fish oils are stored in the cell membranes of heart cells and can prevent sudden cardiac death or fatal arrhythmias. Arrhythmias are irregular heart rhythms. Studies of individual heart cells demonstrated that the omega-3 essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) specifically block excessive sodium and calcium currents in the heart. Those excessive electrical discharges cause dangerous and erratic changes in heart rhythm.The first clinical suggestion that n-3 PUFAs significantly benefited the heart came from a 1989 study in which 2,033 men with heart disease were given dietary advice on fat, fiber or fish. After two years the men who were told to eat fish at least twice a week had a 29 percent reduction in death. There was no benefit from either increasing the amount of fiber or reducing the amount of saturated fats in the diet (Author's note, this conclusion was contraindicated by many other studies and is generally accepted as invalid).
Since about "50 percent to 60 percent of deaths in the setting of coronary heart disease are sudden cardiac death [deaths within one hour of symptoms of a heart attack] attributed to sustained ventricular arrhythmias" the authors write, the reduction in deaths reported in this early study is probably evidence of fewer fatal arrhythmias."
Amount of omega-3 Fatty oils (EPA and DHA) in one pound of fish in grams:Sardines....... 20 - 25
Herring....... 10 - 12
Mackerel........ 9 -10
Trout........ 5 - 6
Halibut...... 5 - 6
Cooked Salmon....... 3 - 9
*Canned White Meat Tuna....... 4 - 6
Flounder....... 2 - 3
Pollack....... 2 - 3
*Canned Light Meat Tuna....... 1 - 2
Grouper....... 1 - 2
Sole....... 0.5 - 2
Red Snapper........ 0.2 - 2
Tilapia....... 0.2 - 2.0
Shrimp...... 0.5 - 1.5
Cod....... 0.5 - 1.5
Catfish....... 0.5 - 1.0
Crab....... 0.5 - 1.0
Lobster....... 0.2 - 0.5
Orange Roughy...... 0.1 - 0.2*note the huge difference (3:1) between white meat tuna (albacore) and light meat tuna (yellow fin).
It should be noted that cooking destroys omega 3 fats, so fish shouldn't be overcooked. Fish also shouldn't be fried; steaming is the preferred cooking method. It is virtually impossible not to overcook fish in a microwave. So invest in a stovetop steamer to cook your fish. The National Institute of Health recommends that about 2% of peoples' calories come from omega 3 oils. This is about 2 grams per day of omega 3 oil for most people. Considering that a person would have to eat two three ounce servings of cooked salmon per day in order to get two grams of omega 3 fats, you pretty much have to take fish oil supplements to meet the recommendation. It is a good idea to take three to five fish oil gel tablets per day and to eat a lot of albacore tuna and salmon (there is now albacore tuna in pouches which is great for lunches). Note that fish oil gel tablets should be kept in the freezer as they can spoil with time. There is also an oil supplement called "krill oil" which is an excellent type of fish oil available in some health food stores. We don't take it since it is much more expensive than standard fish oil tablets from the discount stores.
Current Chapter: 13) TYPE 2 DIABETES SUPPLEMENTS
a) Introduction
b) The Benefits of Fish Oil
c) Issues with Fish Oil
d) Flax Seed Oil
e) Bad Omega 6 oils
f) Nuts and Phytosterols
g) Aspirin Therapy
h) Magnesium
i) Vitamins C, D and E
j) High Water Intake© Copyright 2009 All Rights Reserved.