{"id":129971,"date":"2024-11-06T06:28:23","date_gmt":"2024-11-06T11:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eu.intelligentlabs.org\/omega-3-improves-insulin-sensitivity\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T20:04:30","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T20:04:30","slug":"can-omega-3-improve-insulin-sensitivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eu.intelligentlabs.org\/en-gb\/can-omega-3-improve-insulin-sensitivity\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Omega-3 Improve Insulin Sensitivity?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do you have insulin issues but aren\u2019t too keen on taking synthetic medicine? Turns out a very popular natural food supplement may actually be the answer to your health issues! Read the entire article to find out if there\u2019s any truth to the claim that \u201comega-3 <\/a><\/strong>improves insulin sensitivity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insulin & Insulin Sensitivity: What You Need to Know<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas<\/strong>. It helps your body use glucose (blood sugar) for energy or store it for later use. Insulin is essential for keeping the body functioning properly, as problems with insulin regulation can lead to serious health problems. 1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insulin sensitivity<\/strong> is a measure of how effectively your body processes glucose and stores energy. While often discussed in relation to diabetes, insulin sensitivity is influenced by various factors. Treatments for impaired insulin sensitivity typically include medications and specialized diets. However, recent studies indicate that omega-3 supplements<\/strong> may help support healthy insulin sensitivity. 1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Types of Insulin Sensitivity Issues<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are two main types of insulin sensitivity issues:1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

High Insulin Sensitivity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Someone with high insulin sensitivity needs less insulin to manage glucose<\/strong>, meaning their body may produce less insulin than needed. Releasing or injecting too much insulin can lead to hypoglycemia<\/strong>\u2014a condition where blood glucose levels drop too low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Symptoms of hypoglycemia include shaking and confusion, and, in rare severe cases, it can lead to coma. This is most often due to an insulin-producing tumor called an insulinoma<\/a> or an excess of injected insulin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Low Insulin Sensitivity (Insulin Resistance)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Low insulin sensitivity, or insulin resistance, is the most common insulin-related issue<\/strong> and is a key characteristic of Type 2 diabetes<\/strong>. In this condition, the body struggles to use insulin effectively, causing the pancreas to produce more insulin to compensate. This often leads to hyperinsulinemia (too much insulin in the blood) and hyperglycemia (high blood sugar).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time, various health issues can develop with insulin resistance, including high blood pressure, cardiovascular problems, reduced bone density, and certain cancers. Although the exact causes of insulin resistance are complex, experts believe that visceral fat (fat stored around the organs) plays a significant role.<\/p>\n\n\n

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How Omega-3 May Help With Insulin Sensitivity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Omega-3 fatty acids<\/a><\/strong> have been widely researched for their potential role in supporting insulin sensitivity. Recent studies have provided evidence that omega-3s may have beneficial effects on insulin interactions in the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts believe omega-3 fatty acids help regulate insulin by interacting with cell receptors, potentially making it easier for cells to bind with insulin. This interaction could support insulin sensitivity and may help with managing insulin resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few recent studies that show how omega-3s might influence insulin sensitivity:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Type 1 Diabetes Prevention<\/strong>: A study examined omega-3\u2019s effects on preventing Type 1 diabetes in children with genetic risk. The study found that children given cod oil supplements containing DHA and EPA in infancy and early childhood had a reduced risk of developing Type 1 diabetes. 2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Type 2 Diabetes and Insulin Resistance<\/strong>: Another study suggested that omega-3s, including DHA, EPA, and ALA, might help prevent or improve insulin resistance, potentially lowering the risk of Type 2 diabetes. 3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gestational Diabetes<\/strong>: In a recent study published in Clinical Nutrition<\/em>, omega-3 supplementation (1000 mg daily) was associated with a significant reduction in insulin resistance in pregnant women with gestational diabetes. That said, blood glucose levels remained unchanged. 4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While these studies are promising, it\u2019s essential to consult a healthcare provider before starting any supplement regimen, especially for managing conditions like diabetes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More Studies on the Benefits of DHA and EPA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Among the three main types of omega-3 fatty acids<\/a><\/strong>, DHA and EPA<\/strong> show the greatest potential for supporting insulin sensitivity. These two fatty acids are primarily found in fish and are key ingredients in omega-3 fish oil supplements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a study published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, researchers focused on DHA alone and observed improvements in insulin sensitivity in individuals with obesity-related insulin resistance after administering DHA. 5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers also examined the effects of EPA on insulin sensitivity in people with Type 2 diabetes in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in the Singapore Medical Journal. Participants who took 2 grams of purified EPA daily experienced a decrease in insulin levels, suggesting improved insulin sensitivity.6<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for overall health, and low levels may contribute to various health issues. A 2012 study indicated that a diet high in fructose but low in omega-3s could disrupt insulin receptor signaling in the hippocampus, a part of the brain. This suggests that including omega-3 in the diet\u2014or supplementing with fish oil<\/a><\/strong>\u2014may help support healthy insulin signaling.5<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, Can Omega-3 Improve Insulin Sensitivity?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Research suggests that omega-3s, particularly DHA and EPA, may help support insulin sensitivity and reduce insulin resistance. Low levels of omega-3 could be a factor in developing insulin resistance. To ensure you\u2019re getting enough omega-3, focus on a balanced diet that includes these essential fats, or consider supplementing with high-quality fish oil. For more insights on how this essential nutrient can help, check out our article on the 24 ways omega-3 can benefit your life<\/a><\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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References:<\/p>\n\n\n

  1. Freeman AM, Acevedo LA, Pennings N. Insulin Resistance. [Updated 2023 Aug 17]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.\u00a0Available from: https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/books\/NBK507839\/ \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  2. Norris, Jill M et al. \u201cOmega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake and islet autoimmunity in children at increased risk for type 1 diabetes.\u201d JAMA vol. 298,12 (2007): 1420-8. doi:10.1001\/jama.298.12.1420 \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  3. Fedor, Dawn, and Darshan S Kelley. \u201cPrevention of insulin resistance by n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.\u201d Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care vol. 12,2 (2009): 138-46. doi:10.1097\/MCO.0b013e3283218299 \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  4. Samimi, Mansooreh et al. \u201cEffects of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on insulin metabolism and lipid profiles in gestational diabetes: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.\u201d Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) vol. 34,3 (2015): 388-93. doi:10.1016\/j.clnu.2014.06.005 \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  5. Oliver E, McGillicuddy FC, Harford KA, et al. Docosahexaenoic acid attenuates macrophage-induced inflammation and improves insulin sensitivity in adipocytes-specific differential effects between LC n-3 PUFA. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 2012 Sep;23(9):1192-1200. DOI: 10.1016\/j.jnutbio.2011.06.014. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  6. Sarbolouki, Shokouh et al. \u201cEicosapentaenoic acid improves insulin sensitivity and blood sugar in overweight type 2 diabetes mellitus patients: a double-blind randomised clinical trial.\u201d Singapore medical journal vol. 54,7 (2013): 387-90. doi:10.11622\/smedj.2013139 \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n
    \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Do you have insulin issues but aren\u2019t too keen on taking synthetic medicine? Turns out a very popular natural food supplement may actually be the answer to your health issues! Read the entire article to find out if there\u2019s any truth to the claim that \u201comega-3 improves insulin sensitivity.\u201d Insulin & Insulin Sensitivity: What You…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":129973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"Freeman AM, Acevedo LA, Pennings N. Insulin Resistance. [Updated 2023 Aug 17]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.\u00a0Available from: https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/books\/NBK507839\/\",\"id\":\"7ac1364a-3d97-4916-a4c4-faac39c4c54d\"},{\"content\":\"Norris, Jill M et al. \u201cOmega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake and islet autoimmunity in children at increased risk for type 1 diabetes.\u201d JAMA vol. 298,12 (2007): 1420-8. doi:10.1001\/jama.298.12.1420\",\"id\":\"3bf75f3f-3405-4185-b131-9cb6b902bdf8\"},{\"content\":\"Fedor, Dawn, and Darshan S Kelley. \u201cPrevention of insulin resistance by n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.\u201d Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care vol. 12,2 (2009): 138-46. doi:10.1097\/MCO.0b013e3283218299\",\"id\":\"e263bd4f-2850-4203-ad42-a749bc2d34b6\"},{\"content\":\"Samimi, Mansooreh et al. \u201cEffects of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on insulin metabolism and lipid profiles in gestational diabetes: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.\u201d Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) vol. 34,3 (2015): 388-93. doi:10.1016\/j.clnu.2014.06.005\",\"id\":\"baa06085-69d5-4226-8f38-7ff43fc332f0\"},{\"content\":\"Oliver E, McGillicuddy FC, Harford KA, et al. Docosahexaenoic acid attenuates macrophage-induced inflammation and improves insulin sensitivity in adipocytes-specific differential effects between LC n-3 PUFA. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 2012 Sep;23(9):1192-1200. DOI: 10.1016\/j.jnutbio.2011.06.014.\",\"id\":\"68c48519-8080-4378-8796-d291719d1986\"},{\"content\":\"Sarbolouki, Shokouh et al. \u201cEicosapentaenoic acid improves insulin sensitivity and blood sugar in overweight type 2 diabetes mellitus patients: a double-blind randomised clinical trial.\u201d Singapore medical journal vol. 54,7 (2013): 387-90. doi:10.11622\/smedj.2013139\",\"id\":\"a903a93d-d8ba-434e-8271-f595dce58dcc\"}]"},"categories":[695],"tags":[705,678],"coauthors":[1034],"class_list":["post-129971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nutrition","tag-diabetes","tag-omega-3"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":695,"label":"Nutrition"}],"post_tag":[{"value":705,"label":"Diabetes"},{"value":678,"label":"Omega-3"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/eu.intelligentlabs.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/can-omega-3-improve-insulin-sensitivity-02-1-1024x512.jpg",1024,512,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Cassi O'Brien","author_link":"https:\/\/eu.intelligentlabs.org\/en-gb\/author\/cassi\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":695,"name":"Nutrition","slug":"nutrition","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":695,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":140,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":695,"category_count":140,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Nutrition","category_nicename":"nutrition","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":705,"name":"Diabetes","slug":"diabetes","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":705,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":11,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":678,"name":"Omega-3","slug":"omega-3","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":678,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":146,"filter":"raw"}],"wpml":{"language":"en-gb","is_original":true,"original_post_id":129971,"translations":{"de-at":{"id":208570,"language":"de-at","is_original":false},"de-de":{"id":77322,"language":"de-de","is_original":false},"en-gb":{"id":129971,"language":"en-gb","is_original":true},"en-ie":{"id":163494,"language":"en-ie","is_original":false},"es-es":{"id":76265,"language":"es-es","is_original":false},"fr-fr":{"id":76923,"language":"fr-fr","is_original":false},"it-it":{"id":76617,"language":"it-it","is_original":false},"pt-pt":{"id":169181,"language":"pt-pt","is_original":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eu.intelligentlabs.org\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eu.intelligentlabs.org\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eu.intelligentlabs.org\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eu.intelligentlabs.org\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eu.intelligentlabs.org\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129971"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eu.intelligentlabs.org\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137558,"href":"https:\/\/eu.intelligentlabs.org\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129971\/revisions\/137558"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eu.intelligentlabs.org\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eu.intelligentlabs.org\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eu.intelligentlabs.org\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eu.intelligentlabs.org\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129971"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eu.intelligentlabs.org\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=129971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}