- Total PUFA consumption (predominantly linoleic acid) improves both glycaemia and insulin resistance.
- High linoleic acid levels associated with a 43% lower relative risk of type 2 diabetes.
- Conversely, the precursor of linolenic acid called, arachidonic acid was not associated with diabetes risk.
Lead author Dr Jason Wu, of The George Institute for Global Health in Sydney, said: "Our findings suggest that a simple change in diet might protect people from developing type 2 diabetes which has reached alarming levels around the world."
"This is striking evidence," said senior author and Professor Dariush Mozaffarian, of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Massachusetts. "The people involved in the study were generally healthy and were not given specific guidance on what to eat. Yet those who had the highest levels of blood omega-6 markers had a much lower chance of developing type 2 diabetes."
Association between linoleic acid and arachidonic acid biomarkers and the risk of type 2 diabetes Analysis of individual-level data from 20 prospective cohort studies was assessed to find the association between levels of linoleic acid and arachidonic acid biomarkers and the risk of incident type 2 diabetes.
Data from 366 703 person-years of follow-up of more than 39 000 adults without type 2 diabetes at baseline showed a linear inverse association between levels of the biomarker linoleic acid and the incidence of type 2 diabetes, with similar findings across different lipid compartments. Conversely, overall levels of the biomarker arachidonic acid were not significantly associated with type 2 diabetes.
The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is escalating rapidly around the world, so identification of dietary and other modifiable risk factors for the prevention of the disease is of clinical, scientific, and public health importance.
Linoleic Acid Lowers Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
- Dietary PUFAs (predominantly linoleic acid) improved glycemia, insulin resistance, and insulin secretion capacity, compared with carbohydrate, saturated fat.
- Linoleic acid-rich vegetable oil reduced markers of inflammation, visceral fat deposition, and hepatic steatosis.
- Dietary linoleic acid intake correlates with levels of circulating and tissue linoleic acid as the body does not synthesize linoleic acid, the biomarker-based findings extend and expand these previous results by providing evidence that linoleic acid might have long-term benefits for preventing the onset of type 2 diabetes.
- The findings support clinical recommendations to increase dietary intake of linoleic acid-rich vegetable oils.
Reference
- Jason H.Y.Wu
et al., Omega-6 fatty acid biomarkers and incident type
2 diabetes: pooled analysis of individual-level data for 39 740 adults from 20
prospective cohort studies, The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology (2017) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(17)30307-8.
Source-Medindia