Eating sardines twice a week may protect against type 2 diabetes
One study found that regular consumption of sardine fish may help protect against type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and cardiovascular (CV) events.
Regular consumption of sardines offers protection against type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and cardiovascular (CV) events, according to a recent study published in the journal Clinical nutrition.
This protective effect is due to the high amounts of nutrients found in sardines – like vitamin D, calcium, omega 3s, and taurine.
The high levels of unsaturated fats found in sardines and oily fish help regulate cholesterol levels and prevent the onset of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Fish may play a role in the prevention of T2DM, however, there has been little specification on the type of fish and the preventative mechanism involved in its health claim.
In the above context, DA Díaz-Rizzolo, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya in Spain and their colleagues hypothesized that consuming sardines twice a week for one year would reduce the risk of developing T2DM in an affected population. of prediabetes (preDM) and old age.
To this end, the researchers recruited 152 subjects with fasting glucose levels between 100-124 mg / dL and aged 65 or older. They were randomly assigned to two intervention groups: the control group (CG; n = 77) and the sardine group (SG; n = 75).
Both groups received the same T2D prevention nutrition for a year, but only SG had to add 200 g of sardines per week. All data was collected before the start and end of the scheme.
The main findings of the study include:
- Subjects in IL, compared to CG, decreased the percentage of individuals classified in a group at very high risk for developing T2DM according to FINDRISC.
- In addition to increasing HDL cholesterol and adiponectin and lowering triglycerides and blood pressure (<0.05), SG showed a lower HOMA-IR.
- Consumption of nutrients characteristic of sardines such as omega-3s, EPA and DHA, vitamin D, fluorine and taurine was higher for OS.
- These results are consistent with the increase in circulating metabolites of taurine, omega-3 fatty acids (FAs) and bile acids.
- FA erythrocyte membrane changes were detected only in SG with a decrease in 5 omega-6 FA and an increase in 3 types omega-3 FA.
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