High Dose Flaxseed Oil Supplementation May Affect Fasting Blood Serum Glucose Management in Human Type 2 Diabetics

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes is characterized partially by elevated fasting blood serum glucose and insulin concentrations and the percentage of hemoglobin as HbA1c. It was hypothesized that each of blood glucose and its co-factors insulin and HbA1c and would show a more favorable profile as the result of flaxseed oil supplementation. Patients were recruited at random from a population pool responding to a recruitment advertisement in the local newspaper and 2 area physicians. Completing the trial were 10 flaxseed oil males, 8 flaxseed oil females, 8 safflower (placebo) oil males and 6 safflower oil females. Patients visited on two pre-treatment occasions each three months apart (visits 1 and 2). At visit 2 subjects were randomly assigned in double blind fashion and in equal gender numbers to take flaxseed oil or safflower oil for three further months until visit 3. Oil consumption in both groups was ~ 10 g/d. ALA intake in the intervention group was ~ 5.5 g/d. Power was 0.80 to see a difference of 1 mmol of glucose /L using 12 subjects per group with a p < 0.05. Flaxseed oil had no impact on fasting blood serum glucose, insulin or HbA1c levels. It is concluded that high doses of flaxseed oil have no effect on glycemic control in type 2 diabetics.

Macronutrient intake and type 2 diabetes risk in middle-aged Australian women. Results from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health

“…Other investigators, however, reported contradictory results for total n-3 PUFA and ALA. No association was found between total n-3 PUFA intake and glucose metabolism (32) , fasting insulin (33) or type 2 diabetes risk (34) . Two clinical trials showed no beneficial effect of ALA in the form of flaxseed oil on insulin response and glycaemic control (35,36) . Other studies suggested a protective effect of ALA against type 2 diabetes risk (37)(38)(39) .…”

Stability of bioactives in flaxseed and flaxseed-fortified foods

“…To further corroborate these findings, a meta-analysis of 28 studies determined that in 70-90% of trials, triglycerides and HDL-C were unchanged due to ingestion of flaxseed or a flaxseed extract (Pan, Yu, Demark-Wahnefried, Franco, and Lin, 2009). Randomized controlled trials have also determined a null effect of ingested flaxseed oil or ALA on glycemic control (Barre, Mizier-Barre, Griscti, and Hafez, 2008;Taylor et al, 2010), on adiponectin levels or lipid levels Harper et al, 2006). Clearly more research is warranted to determine a consensus on the health benefits of flaxseed oil in regard to these risk factors of CVD.…”

Flaxseed Oil and Diabetes: A Systemic Review

“…Research workers could not explain why only the low dose group experienced improvements, while the high dose group did not. Which is investigated further by research publish at journal of oleo science by Barre et al (2008). Flaxseed oil had no impact on fasting blood serum glucose, insulin or HbA1c levels.…”

“…Both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are beneficial for improving lipid profiles in healthy individuals and among type 2 diabetic patients: Supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids lowers triglycerides and VLDL-cholesterol. Type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is known for disruption in fatty acid metabolism leading to dyslipidemia (Barre et al, 2008). In a study published in Journal of American College of Nutrition in Feb 2010.…”