Fish Consumption with Adequate Fruit and Vegetables Decreases the Risk of Diabetes-Related Dyslipidemia based on Clinical Measurement and Gas Chromatography

Background: The role of specific dietary patterns in the pathogenesis of diabetes is important. The purpose of this study was assessed the clinical association between lipid profiles and fish consumption in the present of adequate fruit and vegetables (FV)or not in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. Methods: This was a two-stage cross-sectional study conducted at Keelung Hospital (KH) and Taipei Medical University Hospital (TMUH) in 2004. All participants were older than 18 years and patients' demographics, biochemical measurements as well as dietary data were collected. Using the 24-hour dietary recall conducted by the registered dietitian, we computed the total number of fish and FV intakes within two groupings as stage one (high fish and low fish) and four groupings as stage two (high fish-high FV, low fish-high FV, high fish-low FV, and low fish-low FV).Cutoff values for the fish and FV intake were based on the serving size and American Dental Association recommendations respectively. Moreover, plasma fatty acid compositions by gas chromatography were analyzed. Results: Participants in high fish consumption with adequate FV corresponded to a significantly lower triglyceride (TG). Furthermore, higher palmitic acid, sum of n-3 fatty acid and ratio of n-3 to n-6 fatty acid as well a slower linoleic acid, total polyunsaturated fatty acid and sum of n-6 fatty acid in the plasma fatty acid fractions were significantly found in high fish consumption with adequate FV than those subjects with low fish consumption. Conclusion: Two or more servings of fish per week and at least 5 servings of FV daily eliminate diabetes-related dyslipidemia, especially the lower levels of TG.