Fish eaters weigh about 7 pounds less than meat eaters according to a 1996 study from Britain.

Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil reduce the accumulation of body fat by limiting how the increase in fat cell size and the increase in the number of fat cells according to a study using mice.

Six capsules of fish oil per day (6000 mg containing 1900 mg of omega-3 fatty acids) plus walking 45 minutes, three days per week caused people to lose an average of roughly 3.5 pounds of body fat versus 0.4 pounds for those given the equivalent amount of sunflower oil according to a recent study.

Omega-3 fatty acids (such as fish oil) help to protect against obesity, and reduce body fat when already obese notes a new paper.

Fish eaters weigh about 7 pounds less than meat eaters according to a 1996 survey from Britain.

People who had lost an average of 5.9 percent of their body weight in two months while on a diet, felt more full, less hungry and had less of a desire to eat 2 hours after eating dinner when their diet included taking 6 capsules of fish oil per day which contained more than 1300 mg of omega-3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA) compared to those who ate a diet containing some seafood, but less than 260 mg of omega-3 fatty acids per day according to a new study from researchers at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain.

“However, the use of (omega-3 fish oil capsules) could be useful to increase compliance in weight loss programs including energy restriction,” the authors of the study concluded.

”[T]hey could improve the patients’ compliance to changes in dietary habits required for weight loss and weight loss maintenance.”

Here is a summary of research findings about the effects of omega-3 and -6 fatty acids on breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes, cholesterol.

“Metabolically obese, normal-weight individuals are very common in the general population”, according to one paper.

fish oil reduces body fat and stimulates fat oxidation according to one study.

Effect of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids may effect breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes and cholesterol. Here is a summary of findings about these fatty acids.

A 30-year study appearing in The New England Journal of Medicine found that men who ate eight ounces or more of fish each week had a 44 percent lower risk of dying of a heart attack than men who ate none. The study did not consider whether the subjects ate lean or fatty fish. The researchers analyzed data from the Chicago Western Electric Study, which followed 2,107 men who worked at the Western Electric Co. The average participant was overweight, ate far too much fat and cholesterol, drank a lot, smoked and got little exercise. That sounds like a lot of people I know.

omega-3 fatty acids, like those found in fish oil, are important for dieters according Mauro Di Pasquale, M.D.

“The Omega-3?s like LNA [alpha-linolenic acid] and eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid—known as EPA and DHA, respectively—are critical to anyone concerned with dieting. They increase fatty acid oxidation (burning of fat) and basal metabolic rates and lower cholesterol. Omega-3 fatty acids also provide an anabolic effect by increasing the binding of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) to skeletal muscle and improving insulin sensitivity, even on diets high in fat, which have a tendency to decrease insulin sensitivity. As well, fish oils may also have important implications for women prone to osteoporosis, since they appear to decrease calcium excretion.”

Artemis P. Simopoulos, M.D. is one of the world’s leading experts on the effects of essential fatty acids on health and disease and is the author of “The Omega Diet”.