Dietary and supplemental long-chain n3 fatty acids and incident type 2 diabetes

Numerous studies have shown beneficial effects of dietary intake of fatty fish and seafood as well as long-chain n-3 fatty acid supplement use on coronary heart disease (CHD) and some risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Results are inconsistent for type 2 diabetes (T2D). Five meta-analyses, including up to 26 observational studies, have been published about the relation of fish and/or long-chain n-3 fatty acid consumption and risk of developing T2D; while no human intervention studies have been conducted testing the effectiveness of dietary or supplemental n-3 fatty acids on reducing the risk of T2D. Results of the main effects analysis showed no relation between dietary fish or n-3 fatty acids intakes with incident T2D. However, in subgroup analysis by geographic region, Asian consumers of n-3 fatty acids were at lower risk of developing T2D than Asian non-consumers; while no relation was observed in individuals living in western countries (USA and Europe).