New Study: Lose Weight with Fish Oil

Fish oil supplements and regular exercise both reduce body fat and improve cardiovascular health. Could combining the two work better than either one alone? “Only two studies have previously investigated these two interventions in combination,” says Professor Peter R.C. Howe, director of the Nutritional Physiology Research Center, School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, and supervising author of the new study. But because of the study design it wasn’t clear whether this combined intervention effectively reduced cardiovascular risk and improved body composition in overweight participants.
 

In the new study, overweight volunteers with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or high triglycerides were randomly assigned to one of the following interventions:

• fish oil
• fish oil and exercise
• sunflower oil (placebo)
• sunflower oil and exercise

They took 6 grams of fish oil per day (providing 1.9 grams of omega-3 fatty acids) or 6 grams of sunflower oil per day. The exercise groups walked three days per week for 45 minutes at 75% of their maximal heart rate.
 

People who supplemented with fish oil experienced lowered triglycerides, increased HDL (“good”) cholesterol, and improved blood vessel function. Exercise alone improved some measures of artery health. Both fish oil and exercise independently reduced body fat. Though regular, moderate-intensity exercise, either alone or combined with fish oil supplementation, had no effect on triglycerides or cholesterol, researchers still came away from the study concluding that fish oil plus exercise was a winning combination. [It goes without saying nothing much happened to the people who took sunflower oil - it's pro-inflammatory, and assists weight gain, not loss!]
 

In addition to obesity itself being a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, obese people often have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes in a condition known as the metabolic syndrome. So it’s helpful when interventions for obesity target multiple cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors.
 

Several studies have found that taking omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil results in fewer deaths from coronary artery disease. Supplementing with omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil may lessen several cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure and triglycerides. In addition, some clinical studies show that supplementing with omega-3 fatty acids can reduce body fat.
 

Most studies find that physical activity alone leads to relatively minor weight loss. While the lost pounds may be few, it is nevertheless clear that physical activity prevents weight gain. But it can take as much as 60-90 minutes per day of moderate-intensity physical exercise to maintain body weight in the absence of other interventions, such as diet modification or supplementation. Exercise, with and without weight loss, independently improves several risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including lowering blood pressure, favorably altering cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and improving the function of blood vessels.
 

“Increasing intake of omega-3 fatty acids could be a useful adjunct to exercise programs,” concludes Professor Howe, “because both therapies improve body composition and decrease cardiovascular disease risk.” (Am J Clin Nutr 2007;85:1267–74)
 

Which “Fruit” are You?

I’m talking about apples, bananas and pears - referring to your body shape, of course!  Everyone would like to be a banana, but it seems that being an apple is more conducive to developing the “metabolic syndrome” than the pear shape.
 

What is the Metabolic Syndrome?

The term refers to a cluster of specific risk factors including central body obesity, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, and disordered lipids (blood fats); it also increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes type 2 and some cancers. Metabolic syndrome begins to develop during adolescence and I’ve seen it in many children as young as 9 years. Let’s examine the individual components of the metabolic syndrome.
 

Insulin Resistance (IR) in a nutshell means that the cells can’t absorb glucose from the bloodstream effectively. Glucose is the breakdown product of carbohydrate digestion, the primary fuel that cells need to function and the only fuel the brain uses. In IR the insulin just “doesn’t work effectively” to get the glucose into the cells.  Blood glucose rises, increasing the risk of developing diabetes type 2. While IR alone doesn’t necessarily lead to diabetes, coupled with obesity and dyslipidemia tje risk is substantially increased. Frighteningly, 150 million people worldwide are thought to suffer from IR.
 

Dyslipidemia consists of high cholesterol, high LDL (bad) cholesterol, high triglycerides and low HDL (good) cholesterol. Triglycerides are unbound fats in blood that are easy targets for oxidation and buildup of arterial plaque. Obesity by definition is having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater. Several health consequences result from a BMI greater than 27. These include IR, cardiovascular problems, hypertension, gallstones, dyslipidemia, reproductive and hormonal problems. A good nutritionist will be able to put you on the right road to getting this totally under control in a very short time with a simple eating plan and a couple of targeted supplements.
 

I'll never forget my wedding day .. they threw vitamin pills - Groucho Marx