Previous studies have shown that modifying the diet and regular exercise reduces the risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease and obesity. Now research reports that fish and/or fish oil supplementation combined with regular exercise provides significantly greater benefits against obesity and cardiovascular disease, than exercise or fish oil alone.
The double-blind, parallel, dietary intervention trial, presented at the national meeting of the Australasian section of the American Oil Chemists' Society in Adelaide, Australia, investigated the effect of fish and/or fish oil supplementation in combination with moderate aerobic exercise in overweight participants at risk for coronary disease.
Australian researchers at the University of South Australia administered either 6 grams of omega-3 enriched fish oil and exercise, 6 grams of sunflower oil and exercise, 6 grams of fish oil, or 6 grams of sunflower oil daily, to 24 overweight adults with either raised plasma triglycerides or blood pressure, for 12 weeks. The groups did not change their diet. The fish oil and sunflower oil exercise groups walked for 45 minutes, 3 days a week at 75 percent of their age-predicted maximal heart rate. The participants' diet and exercise compliance, blood lipids, blood pressure, arterial stiffness, endothelial function, and respiratory exchange ratio during exercise were assessed at the beginning, week six, and end of the study. The researchers measured the participants' body fat composition by Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry at the beginning and end of the study.
The researchers found that the fish oil and exercise group lost significantly more fat than the other groups. Both the fish oil and sunflower oil exercise groups had a decrease in body weight. However, the fish oil and exercise group had the greatest beneficial effect on blood pressure, triglyceride levels, heart rate variability and artery function, as compared to the other groups.
"The combination of fish oil and exercise may play an important role in improving metabolic and CV risk factors in people at risk of developing metabolic syndrome," the study authors conclude. "This combination appears to have synergistic effects, particularly on body composition, which may be attributable to improvements in both metabolic and circulatory functions."
Posted by Kristopher Foster on June 28, 2006 02:58 PM
