Foods, nutrients or whole diets: effects of targeting fish and LCn3PUFA consumption in a 12mo weight loss trial

Study answer

What this study found

The fish advice and LCn3PUFA supplement strategy did not improve weight loss beyond the hypocaloric diet. All groups lost weight at 12 months, with reported changes of Control -4.5 kg, Fish -4.3 kg, and Fish + S -3.3 kg, and there was no between-group effect on weight (group p = 0.682; interaction p = 0.326). The supplement arm did increase omega-3 status: at 12 months, the omega-3 index was 3.4 ± 1.0% in Fish versus 4.4 ± 1.6% in Fish + S, p = 0.007. Most cardiometabolic outcomes improved over time with the diet intervention, but these changes were not meaningfully different between groups.

Study & population

Randomized controlled 12-month weight-loss trial in overweight to obese adults in Wollongong, Australia, with baseline data from 118 participants.

Intervention

Participants in the Fish arm were advised to eat 2 fish meals per week, targeting 180 g of fatty fish weekly, for 12 months on top of a hypocaloric diet.

Key limitation

The active intervention arms were modest in size and had substantial attrition, with only 25 Fish and 20 Fish + S completers for completers-only analyses and fewer participants contributing to some biomarkers.

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Original abstract