Omega-3s May Postpone Metabolic Disorders

Previously, studies have reported that higher plasma omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) associate with a lower risk of age related cognitive decline, and exert beneficial effects on cardiometabolic risk factors.  Inger Bjorck, from Lund University (Sweden), and colleagues enrolled 40 healthy middle-aged men and women in a study in which subjects consumed a daily supplement containing 3g of omega-3 fish oil, or placebo, for five weeks prior to the administration of standardized cognitive tests and collection of metabolic risk markers including blood pressure, serum triglycerides, and fasting glucose.  The team observed that the subjects who consumed the omega-3 performed better on the cognitive assessments, and had lower systolic blood pressure, triglycerides, fasting glucose, and s-TNF-alpha (a marker of inflammation), which the study authors submit as “indicating a potential of dietary prevention strategies to delay onset of metabolic disorders and associated cognitive decline.”