Research
Hormonal
Dietary and circulating levels of Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA) show a non-significant trend toward lower diabetes risk, whereas EPA and DHA (from fish or supplements) show no significant association with diabetes incidence.
Taking fish oil (EPA/DHA) supplements or eating more fish does not appear to significantly lower your risk of type 2 diabetes based on this large review. Plant-based ALA (from flax, walnuts) shows a weak, non-significant trend toward benefit. Do not rely on omega-3s for diabetes prevention.
GoodQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Both dietary ALA... and circulating ALA biomarker levels... were associated with non-significant trend towards lower risk of DM... Consumption of EPA+DHA... nor circulating levels of EPA+DHA biomarkers... [were] not significantly associated with DM
Why this rating
Meta-analysis of prospective cohorts. ALA trend is borderline significant (p=0.06 for biomarkers).
Source
Omega-3 fatty acids and incident type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Jason Wu et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 2012
DOI 10.1017/s0007114512001602
Meta-analysis · 16 studiesCited 340×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Consumption of fish and seafood is not significantly associated with the incidence of type 2 diabetes in the general population, though risk varies by geographic location and BMI.Good
- The association between fish/seafood consumption and diabetes risk is modified by geography and BMI: it may lower risk in Asian populations with lower BMI, but increase risk in North American/European populations with higher BMI.Moderate
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