Type 2 Diabetes: Fish Oil or Echium and Borage Oil Combination to Lower Cholesterol

Supplementation with fish oil in patients with early type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome is associated with improved cholesterol levels

This is the finding of researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine, North Carolina (USA), published in recent months in the journal Lipids in Health and Disease.

Can Omega-3 influence type 2 diabetes?

The rising prevalence of obesity is strongly associated with systemic inflammation, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and diabetes. Lifestyle, particularly diet, plays a crucial role in the development and progression of type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease. Consumption of fatty fish, rich in Omega-3 fatty acids such as EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), has various health benefits; they appear effective in reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Based on these observations, it has been hypothesized that Omega-3 may also have positive effects in patients with type 2 diabetes. However, some recent meta-analyses and prospective studies have shown limited significance, and randomized clinical trials focusing on Omega-3 effects in diabetes are still scarce.

Less cholesterol after 8 weeks of supplementation

Scientists recruited 59 subjects with early type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome. Participants were randomly divided into three groups and took daily supplements. The control group received corn oil, the second group a combination of borage oil (Borago officinalis L.) and echium oil (Echium plantagineum L.), and the last group received fish oil supplements (containing 6 grams of EPA + DHA). After eight weeks, specific analyses showed that the borage and echium oil combination was associated with decreased total cholesterol (from 182.0 to 171.9 mg/dL) and LDL "bad" cholesterol (from 106.3 to 96.8 mg/dL). The fish oil group showed significant increases in HDL "good" cholesterol (from 40.7 mg/dL to 43.6 mg/dL) and decreased triglycerides from 187.2 to 56.8 mg/dL. Additionally, subjects taking fish oil exhibited a significant reduction in hemoglobin A1c levels, an indicator of excess blood glucose.

Fish oil and botanical oils improve inflammatory status

As commented by the study’s authors, this research demonstrated that short-term supplementation with borage and echium oils, as well as fish oil, reduces markers associated with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Independently commenting on the study results, Harry Rice, Vice President of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs for the Global Organization for EPA and DHA (GOED), confirmed that the most interesting finding was that HDL cholesterol levels increased after only four weeks in subjects who took fish oil but not in those receiving the other supplements. High HDL levels reduce heart disease risk, while low levels increase it. Further studies with longer treatments and larger populations will be necessary to better understand the extent to which these supplements can impact dyslipidemia, inflammation, and glucose levels in diabetic and metabolic syndrome patients.

Source:

T.C. Lee, P. Ivester, A.G. Hester, S. Sergeant, L.D. Case, T. Morgan, E.O. Kouba, F.H. Chilton. “The impact of polyunsaturated fatty acid-based dietary supplements on disease biomarkers in a metabolic syndrome/diabetes population.” Lipids in Health and Disease December 2014, 13:196, doi:10.1186/1476-511X-13-196.