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A study from the University of Georgia shows that fish oil supplements may help people with a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol by lowering LDL, total cholesterol and triglyceride levels, offering a potential strategy for controlling cardiovascular risk. Source: SciTechDaily.com
Studies show that omega-3 supplements may reduce the genetic likelihood of elevated cholesterol, LDL and triglyceride levels.
Fish oil supplements are a multibillion-dollar industry both in the United States and internationally; about two in 25 people take these popular omega-3 capsules.
And a new study from the University of Georgia may also encourage a new demographic to take an interest in these supplements: people with a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol.
Using genetic data from more than 441,000 participants, researchers calculated a score to predict the genetic likelihood of high total cholesterol, high LDL cholesterol (often referred to as “bad” cholesterol), triglycerides, and HDL cholesterol (or “good” cholesterol).
“Recent advances in genetic research have allowed us to predict a person’s genetic risk for high cholesterol,” said Yitang Sun, a recent graduate student in UGA’s genetics department. “However, the current prediction needs improvement because it does not take into account individual differences in lifestyle, such as taking fish oil supplements.”
The researchers found that participants who reported taking fish oil supplements had lower blood lipid levels than expected, particularly total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.
Implications of the study
“Our study shows that considering lifestyle can improve genetic prediction,” said Kaixiong Ye, corresponding author of the study and assistant professor of genetics in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. “Our results also support that fish oil supplements can counteract the genetic predisposition to high cholesterol.”
Fish Oil Counteracts the Effects of a Family History of High Cholesterol It’s no secret that high cholesterol is bad for the body. Arteries begin to harden and the risk of a heart attack or stroke increases. Although a healthy diet and exercise can help prevent this, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 86 million American adults – or about one in four – have high cholesterol.
Millions more people are at risk of developing high cholesterol due to a variety of factors, including one they can’t control: genetics. For people with a family history of high cholesterol, the study’s findings offer another way to protect their health.
“Fish oil intake is associated with a shift toward a healthy lipid profile,” Ye said.
The researchers also examined the effects of fish oil on HDL cholesterol and found that the supplements had a positive effect on increasing so-called “good” cholesterol.
Reference: “Fish oil supplementation alters associations between genetically predicted and observed concentrations of blood lipids: a cross-sectional study of gene-diet interaction in a UK biobank” by Yitang Sun, Tryggvi McDonald, Abigail Baur, Huifang Xu, Naveen Brahman Bateman, Ye Shen, Changwei Li and Kaixiong Ye, 15 July 2024, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.07.009
