Human Study Shows Krill Oil May Offset Metabolic Dysfunctions

A recent human study shows that Krill Oil which is rich in Omega 3 fats may help fight metabolic symptoms such as elevated fat levels in your heart and liver if you are considered obese.  

The research shows that beneficial effects were experienced with daily supplementation of krill oil on the endocannabinoid system.  I know this is a complicated word to just spell let alone say but this system is a group of lipids and receptors that influence your appetite, pain sensation,  your mood and memory.  

This study also showed that only krill oil and not fish oil or olive oil showed a significant reduction in levels of a endocannabinoid that is reported to be elevated in obese people.

Sebastiano Banni from the University of Cagliari wrote that

"The novel finding of the present study is that krill oil, more efficiently than menhaden (fish) oil, was able to reduce endocannabinoid levels in the plasma despite the fact that the effects of the two dietary treatments on EPA and DHA plasma concentrations were comparable and even slightly lower in the krill oil group than in the menhaden (fish) oil group."  

One of the biggest questions that is asked is why doesn't krill oil have the same levels of EPA and DHA as conventional fish oil and this research above as well as other studies show that krill oil is more beneficial in many instances than fish oil even with less EPA and DHA. 

One of the reasons why scientists believe this happens is because of the solution that krill oil is in which is a phospholipid solution instead of a triglyceride solution which is what fish oil is in.

Sebastiano Banni and the researchers also stated this

"One possible explanation for the different effects of krill oil and fish oil might be the more efficient incorporation of Omega 3 long chain polyunsaturated fats into adipose tissue phopholipids and a subsequent decrease in arachidonic acid incorporation with krill oil supplementation, which then leads to impaired endocannabinoid biosynthesis."

This human study confirms a similar study that was done with obese rats in 2009 that also showed that when you can control these endocannabanoid levels in obese subjects it may help with long term health issues such as metabolic syndrome.  

It is also important to note that the reason they believe krill oil was more beneficial than fish oil was because of the phospholipid solution that krill oil resides in.  

The study details for this human study consisted of a team of scientists from Finland, Norway, Italy and the United States.  They invited 63 overweight and obese subjects between the ages of 35 and 64.  

The participants randomly received either 2 grams of krill oil,  2 grams of fish oil or 2 grams of olive oil for four weeks.

The krill oil provided 206 mg of EPA and 103 mg of DHA while the fish oil provided 195 mg of EPA and 195 mg of DHA.  

The results showed that krill oil provided a significant reduction in 2-AG levels and there were no significant reductions in those participants that consumed fish oil or olive oil.  

 We look forward to future studies that hopefully will investigate longer term interventions like this to see if there is a better way to treat and reverse this metabolic syndrome disorder.  

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Refernce:

S. Banni, G. Carta, E. Murru, L. Cordeddu, E. Giordano, A.R. Sirigu, K. Berge, H. Vik, K.C. Maki, V. Di Marzo, M. Griinari  “Krill oil significantly decreases 2-arachidonoylglycerol plasma levels in obese subjects”  Nutrition & Metabolism   2011, 8:7,