THE TRIGLYCERIDE LOWERING EFFECT OF FISH OILS IS AFFECTED BY FISH CONSUMPTION

We investigated the efficacy of fish oils in Portuguese patients with hypertriglyceridaemia and mixed hyperlipidaemia, and the influence of fish consumption on the triglyceride lowering capacity of fish oils. F orty patients participated in this. double-blind study, consisting of a 4-week dietary or wash-out baseline period after which patients were randomly assigned to receive either 12 fish oil capsules (3.6 g/day o f omega 3) or similar 12 soya oil capsules per day for a period of 2 m onths. There were no statistically significant changes of total, HDL o r LDL-cholesterol, and triglycerides. Nevertheless, triglycerides incr eased 19.9% with soya oil and decreased 27.8% with fish oils. Also, th ere was an inverse relationship (rho=-0.352) between fish consumption and fish oils effect on triglycerides, and the triglyceride lowering w ith fish oils increased (from 27.8% to 44.4%), reaching borderline sig nificance, if we excluded patients consuming one or more meals with fi sh per day. Glucose increased 11% (P=0.0047) with fish oils. These fin dings suggest that the triglyceride lowering effect of fish oils is af fected by fish consumption, and confirm that fish oils increase blood glucose levels in diabetics and non-diabetics.