Losing weight with Omega-3?

What are omega-3 fatty acids?

Who doesn’t know it from their own circle of acquaintances: from the age of 40, the pointer on the scale usually points slowly but steadily upwards. One to two kilos more per year are not uncommon. Those affected are often at a loss. They cannot explain why their weight is increasing from year to year while their eating habits remain mostly unchanged, and they ask themselves how they can counteract this development.

Factors influencing body weight

Scientific studies show that steady weight gain in old age is strongly determined not only by lifestyle but also by hereditary factors. However, a growing body of data suggests that a high intake of omega-3 fatty acids can attenuate genetically determined weight gain.

A recent study has therefore now investigated the relationship between a person’s individual genetic predisposition and the development of their body weight. The question was investigated whether a high fish consumption and/or a high intake of marine omega-3 fatty acids can attenuate the genetically determined body weight gain in the course of life.

The interaction between genes and habitual fish consumption was monitored and comprehensively assessed in a total of 24,000 subjects in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS), the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS), and the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) over a period of more than 6 years.