Diet Rich in Fatty Acids Could Thwart Diabetes Onset

Omega-3 fatty acids have long been touted for their heart-healthy and brain-boosting benefits. Consider cod liver oil, fortified infant formula and enriched eggs.

Now a study of nearly 1,800 children at risk for type 1 diabetes has found that increased consumption of dietary omega-3 fatty acids appears to reduce the risk of the body attacking its own insulin-producing cells, a precursor to this form of the disease, report researchers at the University of Colorado and the University of Florida.

The findings appear in the Sept. 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In the past few decades, there has been a dramatic rise in the incidence of type 1 diabetes, both in the United States and in Europe — a jump that coincides with changes in food manufacturing that have led to a decline in omega-3 fatty acids in the diet and an increase in the content of omega-6 fatty acids, said Michael Clare-Salzler, M.D., a professor and the Stetson chair in experimental pathology at the University of Florida College of Medicine.

“The foods we are eating now are qualitatively much different than those produced on a 1900s-era farm,” Clare-Salzler said. “When animals are commercially raised today, they are often fed grains rich in omega-6 fatty acids, fatty acids that can promote inflammation. In the old days, animals received a much more balanced intake of omega-3 and omega 6-fatty acids.”

The amount of omega-3 fatty acids found in food today has dropped 28-fold from 100 years ago, Clare-Salzler said. In contrast to the omega-6 variety, omega-3 fatty acids have potent anti-inflammatory effects.

“Animal studies have shown inflammation in the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas is an early event that leads to type 1 diabetes,” said Clare-Salzler, who also directs UF’s Center for Immunology and Transplantation. “From these studies in mice, it appears if you thwart inflammation you can prevent the disease from occurring. The human parallel in this study indicates that higher dietary intake of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids reduces the risk of developing an immune response to the insulin-producing cells.”

Scientists set out to study whether increased intake of omega-3 fatty acids would be associated with prevention of or delay in the emergence of autoantibodies in the blood that signal the immune system’s attack on insulin-producing cells. Children enrolled in the Denver-based Diabetes Autoimmunity Study in the Young, or DAISY, were all at increased risk for type 1 diabetes and were evaluated until they were, on average, 6 years old.

Their parents were asked annually to report what they ate, including how often they consumed canned tuna, dark-meat fish such as salmon, other fish, shrimp, lobster and scallops, and also what kind of fat was used in cooking. Blood samples also were taken to test study participants for the presence of autoantibodies, and Nancy J. Szabo, Ph.D., director of the Analytical Toxicology Core Laboratory at UF’s College of Veterinary Medicine, evaluated the fatty acid composition of red blood cell membranes isolated from blood samples taken from a subset of 244 children.