Fish Oils May Aid Weight Loss, Study Finds

If you're often told you should be eating more fish, then please start taking that advice, because here's yet more science to back that up.

When a person eats a lot of junk food, high in refined sugars and saturated fats, the brain exhibits changes as a result of such a diet. Those changes can result in an inhibition of natural body processes that cooperate to control a person's intake of food. Fish oils, including omega-3s, have long been suggested to play a role in offsetting such effects of an unhealthy diet, and a new review of 185 research papers has made some headway into pinpointing how this may work.

A team of researchers at the University of Liverpool's Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease conducted a review of data that aimed to reveal whether sufficient evidence existed that fish oils play a significant role in stimulating areas of the brain that control a person's weight. According to the University of Liverpool News, the review revealed that fish oils "are likely to play a significant role in stalling refined sugars and saturated fats' ability to inhibit the brain's control on the body's intake of food."

Essentially, omega-3s have been shown to interfere with the production of inflammatory molecules and triglycerides, thereby helping to restore nerve growth to normal and stem the onset of weight gain in people with high-fat diets. Dr. Lucy Pickavance, one of the researchers on the team, explained further that fish oils "seem to mimic the effects of calorie restrictive diets and including more oily fish or fish oil supplements in our diets could certainly be a positive step forward for those wanting to improve their general health."

So there you have it. Particularly if you eat a lot of junk, try introducing some more fish into your diet. Your waistline will thank you.