Omega-3 vetzuren tegen ontstekingen en overgewicht*
Uit een kleine studie onder 232 mensen met overgewicht
blijkt dat voeding rijk aan omega-3 vetzuren het hongergevoel doet onderdrukken. De deelnemers in deze studie, met een BMI van gemiddeld 28 kregen een caloriearm dieet aangevuld met of 260 mg of 1.300 mg omega-3 vetzuren per dag. Zij met de aanvulling van 1.300 mg omega-3 vetzuren bleken zowel direct na als twee uur na de maaltijd duidelijk minder honger te hebben.
Uit een andere studie blijkt hoe omega-3 vetzuren ontstekingen kunnen verminderen. Al op jonge leeftijd ontstaan beschadigingen in bloedvaten. Om te kunnen genezen raken deze beschadigingen ontstoken, maakt het lichaam stoffen aan om de ontsteking te koelen waarna de beschadiging hersteld. Zonder de koeling kunnen beschadigingen niet hersteld worden. In het lichaam gaat het wel eens niet goed waardoor die stoffen om te koelen niet of slecht worden aangemaakt en zullen deze met de voeding ingenomen moeten worden. Een voorbeeld daarvan is aspirine. Uit deze studie nu blijkt dat omega-3 vetzuren ook een voorbeeld daarvan is en dus kan helpen bij beschadigingen en de daarmee gepaard gaande ontstekingen.
New Study Shows Omega-3s Reduce Appetite
Omega-3 fatty acids can help dieters feel full longer and eat less, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Navarra, University of Iceland and University College Cork and published in the journal
Appetite.
"[Omega-3s] could improve the patients' compliance to changes in dietary habits required for weight loss and weight loss maintenance," the researchers
wrote.
Researchers placed 232 overweight or obese volunteers onto a lower calorie, balanced diet that was supplemented with either a low or high dose of omega-3s for eight weeks. The average age of participants was 31, and their average body mass index was 28.3 kg per square meter. The low omega-3 dose was 260 milligrams per day, while participants in the high-dose group were given 1,300 milligrams per day.
During the last two weeks of the experiments, researchers assessed the appetites of participants and found that those in the high dose group tended to feel hungry less frequently than those in the low dose group, when measurements were taken either immediately after or two hours following a
meal.
The researchers also found that participants with higher blood levels of omega-3s and a healthier omega-3 to omega-6 ratio were also less likely to report being hungry after
eating.
"The most important finding of this study is that subjects who eat a dinner rich in long chain omega-3 fatty acids feel less hunger and more full directly after and two hours after than their counterparts fed with the low long chain omega-3 fatty acids diet," the researchers wrote. "This observation indicates that long chain omega-3 fatty acids modulate hunger
signals."
Omega-3 fatty acids are found in high concentrations in certain fish oils, flaxseeds and other seeds and nuts, and certain varieties of algae. Omega-6 fatty acids are found in high concentrations in vegetable oils. Recent research is suggested that omega-3s are essential for the healthy development of the central nervous system, and the higher ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s is important for cardiovascular health.
Researchers Find Fish Oil Reduces Inflammation
Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil may help maintain the body's healthy response to inflammation, preventing the immune response from getting out of hand and leading to cardiovascular disease, according to a study conducted by researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and Harvard Medical School, and published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental
Biology.
The researchers discovered that the blood vessels of many people have tendencies to form small lesions, even from a very young age. The normal healing process is for these lesions to become inflamed, for the inflammation to cool down, and then for the lesions to heal. In some cases, however, the inflammation appears to never cool, and the lesion never heals.
When the researchers intervened genetically to cause the body to produce more chemicals that encourage inflammation to cool, they found that blood vessels tended to heal themselves better. When they suppressed these signals, the inflammation and blood vessel damage quickly got out of hand.
"Resolution is not a passive process," researcher Lawrence C.B. Chan said. "It is active and produces specific anti-inflammatory mediators that 'cool down' the inflammatory process."
While some inflammation-cooling mediators are naturally produced by the body, others appear to function when ingested. One of these is the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug aspirin, which may account for its reported cardiovascular health benefits.
Another one, the researchers found, is omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in high quantities in fish oil and a few vegetable sources, such as flax seeds or certain algaes.
"Inflammation is a two-edged sword," lead author Aksam J. Merched said. "If resolution fails and the response gets out of hand, there is a never ending civil war in the body. Continued inflammation draws more macrophages [potent immune system cells] to the site of the inflammation. They produce molecules that turn this into a vicious
cycle." (Januari
2009)
