For those who have metabolic syndrome (risk factors including obesity, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar), adding some fish oil to a low saturated fat diet with sufficient complex carbohydrates may help, researchers discover.
Addition of omega-3 to a diet high in carbohydrates and low in fat will prevent negative, long-term effects that have been caused by a high carbohydrate diet, researchers add.
For this study, 117 people, all having metabolic syndrome, were assigned a random diet (from four choices) to consume for 12 weeks. The diets included: high fat diet containing excess saturated fat, high fat diet containing additional monounsaturated fat, low fat diet with an abundance of complex carbohydrates, and a low fat diet also high in complex carbohydrates but with the addition of an omega-3 supplement.
Each of the four diets contained nearly the same calorie count. Researchers examined blood both before and after a meal was eaten to help determine blood fat levels.
When the study started, all subjects showed closely related blood fat response after their meal. However, at the conclusion of the three-month study, those who consumed the high-fat (largely monounsaturated) diet or the low-fat high carbohydrate diet with the addition of the omega-3 supplement noticed the best results.
Research discovered lower blood fat levels when comparing the supplemented or healthy unsaturated fat diet to the saturated fat rich diet.
The idea that this study showed change to those with a disease (metabolic syndrome) is good news for experts.