New information About Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Focus on Diabetes

Kathy J. Shattler, M.S, RD

Kathy J. Shattler, M.S, RD Is our Newest Advisory Board member.

Kathy has over 20 years experience as a Registered Dietitian. She has worked as metabolic support specialist, certified diabetic educator, public health program manager, state surveyor for HCFA/CMS compliance, home health dietitian and with private physicians. Currently, she works as the Dietitians and Nutritionists Continuing Education Division director at the internet based business, CEU4U.COM.  CEU4U.COM offers CDR and CE Broker approved educational opportunities that are conveniently located on-line.

 

Toma - Site Admin 

Why should you care about Omega 3? Simply stated, recent research is linking Omega 3 fatty acids to improved health in far more ways than anyone previously thought possible.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids (FA) is a class of polyunsaturated fatty acids (pufa). Important nutritionally essential omega-3 FA include ALA or α-linolenic acid, EPA or eicosapentaenoic acid and DHA or docosahexaenoic acid. For our purposes, we will refer to these fatty acids as ALA, EPA and DHA.  The human body cannot make EPA or DHA, but can competitively make EPA and DHA from ALA in the normal human body. The most widely available sources of EPA or DHA include wild salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies and sardines. Farmed salmon, being grain fed, have a higher proportion of omega-6 fatty acids than wild salmon. Other oily fish include tuna. Consumers of fish should be aware of the potential presence of PCBs, dioxins. lead, cadmium, mercury nickel and arsenic - pollutants and heavy metals that are often removed in high quality supplements. Omega 3s are now being linked to better diabetic control.

Why is the intake of EPA and DHA so important in diabetes?  People with diabetes do not generally die of high blood sugars; they die of microvascular and macrovascular complications of which one of the most serious is heart disease.  A recent study in Lancet (2007) (The leading medical journal in the UK) involved over 18,000 patients with unhealthy cholesterol profiles. The patients in the study group received either 1,800 mg of EPA with a statin drug or a statin drug alone. Statin drugs include the following: Lipitor, Mevacor, Zocor, Crestor, Lescol, Prevachol and Baycol. Statin drugs are commonly prescribed to lower cholesterol. The trial went on for five years. It was found at the end of the study that those in the EPA group had superior heart function. Non-fatal coronary events were also significantly reduced.

People with diabetes are 6 times more likely to suffer a first heart attack and 3-8 times more likely to die from heart disease than those without diabetes. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends eating fish (particularly fatty fish) at least two times per week to prevent heart related complications and to treat already existing heart problems.  They also recommend that patients with documented heart disease consume about 1 g of EPA + DHA per day in capsule form. Patients who need to lower triglycerides in particular are recommended 2-4 g of EPA + DHA UNDER A PHYSICIANS CARE. Supplementation at this level may lower triglycerides by 20-40%.

Diabetic-Diet-Secrets.com is thrilled to announce a new advisory board member. Our newest advisory board member is David Mendosa. As the administrator of Diabetic-Diet-Secrets.com I became aware of David when I was first diagnosed. When I was searching the internet for clues on how to best control my blood glucose David's name was popping up in just about every search I did. When I went to the on-line diabetic groups David Mendosa was often quoted as the source for information when making a point about the best ways to handle the disease.

David Mendosa is a legend on the internet among diabetes email list and news groups. Many would consider him the single most influential man and most reliable source for diabetic information on the internet. You can imagine my absolute elation when he accepted an invitation to be on the advisory board of this site.

David is a resident of Boulder Colorado and one of his passions is hiking in the beautiful Colorado Rockies which he loves.

I would like to personally welcome two new members to our advisory board. They are Dr. David Hite PhD and Dr. Paul Chous. Both bring some very strong credentials.

Dr. Hite is a nutrition educator with the largest HMO in the U.S. A lifelong educator with over 30 years experience, David has taught in California and around the world. A twenty-year veteran in public schools, his presentation skills were honed teaching biology, chemistry, and health education at the junior high, high school and community college levels. Additionally, David spent two years teaching science at Cairo American College in Egypt, and two years at Shanghai American School in China. He was twice honored by the state of California as a Mentor Teacher.

David earned a doctorate degree in health education for his research into women and their risks in the early HIV/AIDS epidemic and then supervised street outreach prevention programs for the public health department. David spent a year in South East Asia developing HIV/AIDS prevention programs in refugee camps on the western border in Thailand.

A professional member of the American Diabetes Association and the American Association of Diabetes Educators, he keeps abreast of the latest research and treatment strategies working daily with diabetes patients in his current position as a Clinical Health Educator in the Chronic Conditions Management Department for a major healthcare provider in Sacramento, California.

David’s innovative Diabetes Education DVD targets people trying to avoid diabetes or manage their diabetes with healthy lifestyle changes.

Dr. Paul Chous received his undergraduate education at Brown University and the University of California at Irvine, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1985. He received his Masters Degree in 1986 and his Doctorate of Optometry in 1991, both with highest honors from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Chous was selected as the Outstanding Graduating Optometrist in 1991.  Dr. Chous has been a Type 1 diabetic since 1968. He lives in Maple Valley, Washington with his wife and two sons.

Dr. Chous grew up in Southern California. He was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes mellitus at age five. He developed proliferative diabetic retinopathy in 1986 and underwent multiple laser treatments to save his vision.

Dr. Chous has practiced optometry with a special emphasis on diabetic eye disease and diabetes education for 16 years in the State of Washington. Upon the birth of his son in 2000, he began work on a book for patients and doctors alike about the myriad effects of diabetes on the eyes and visual system, Diabetic Eye Disease: Lessons From a Diabetic Eye Doctor (Fairwood Press, 2003), which has been called “one of the most practical and down to earth books on this topic ever written” by noted diabetes specialists (see reviews at www.DiabeticEyes.com)

Dr. Chous lectures and writes frequently on the subjects of diabetic eye disease and emerging treatments for diabetic eye disease. He runs Chous EyeCare Associates in Tacoma & Mill Creek, WA

Dr. Chous serves as a consultant to dLife - Your Diabetes Life, Children With Diabetes, the Diabetes Exercise & Sports Association, the American Diabetes Association, which honored him with its Distinguished Public Service Award in 1998 and now this site. He is an Adjunct Faculty member at NOVA Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Dr. Chous has given numerous invited talks about diabetes and the eye to both patients and other health care professionals.

 Dr. Chous didn’t become an optometrist because his vision was so good. In fact, he writes that, “After spending so much time in the eye doctor’s office, and having my life so profoundly affected by my eye doctors, I decided that I wanted to be an eye doctor and work diligently to reduce the eye complications of diabetes.” Like most of us on this site, Dr. Chous has a profound understanding of our condition because like us, he lives it.

It is the goal of this site to always have valid trustworthy information you can depend on. Advisory board members such as these two and our other board members found in the about us section have two functions. One is to make sure the content is accurate and the second is to help create a level of trust that helps visitors to the site realize this is a trustworthy site for diabetic information.