Long-Chain Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids May Be Beneficial for Reducing Obesity—A Review
Open accessAbstract
Current recommendations for counteracting obesity advocate the consumption of a healthy diet and participation in regular physical activity, but many individuals have difficulty complying with these recommendations. Studies in rodents and humans have indicated that long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC n-3 PUFA) potentially elicit a number of effects which might be useful for reducing obesity, including suppression of appetite, improvements in circulation which might facilitate nutrient delivery to skeletal muscle and changes in gene expression which shift metabolism toward increased accretion of lean tissue, enhanced fat oxidation and energy expenditure and reduced fat deposition. While LC n-3 PUFA supplementation has been shown to reduce obesity in rodents, evidence in humans is limited. Epidemiological associations between LC n-3 PUFA intakes and obesity are inconclusive but small cross-sectional studies have demonstrated inverse relationships between markers of LC n-3 PUFA status and markers of obesity. Human intervention trials indicate potential benefits of LC n-3 PUFA supplementation, especially when combined with energy-restricted diets or exercise, but more well-controlled and long-term trials are needed to confirm these effects and identify mechanisms of action.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The anti-obesity effects of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid have been shown in previous studies.
“The anti-obesity effects of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid have been shown in previous studies [89, 90].”
From Comparisons of the effects of different flaxseed products consumption on lipid profiles, inflammatory cytokines and anthropometric indices in patients with dyslipidemia related diseases: systematic review and a dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (2021) · cites this paper as [90]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
The Disease Burden Associated With Overweight and Obesity
Must, A. (1999) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.282.16.1523 · Cited by 4,804 · see citing works
Overweight and obesity in the United States: prevalence and trends, 1960–1994
Flegal, K., Carroll, M., Kuczmarski, R., & Johnson, C. (1998) · International Journal of Obesity · doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0800541 · Cited by 3,045 · see citing works
Transcriptional regulatory circuits controlling mitochondrial biogenesis and function
Kelly, D. P., & Scarpulla, R. C. (2004) · Genes & Development · doi:10.1101/gad.1177604 · Cited by 1,243 · see citing works
The Public Health Impact of Obesity
Visscher, T. L. S., & Seidell, J. C. (2001) · Annual Review of Public Health · doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.22.1.355 · Cited by 1,025 · see citing works
Dunstan, D., Zimmet, P., Welborn, T., de Courten, M., Cameron, A., Sicree, R., Dwyer, T., Colagiuri, S., Jolley, D., Knuiman, M., et al. (2002) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/diacare.25.5.829 · Cited by 1,018 · see citing works
Long-term weight loss after diet and exercise: a systematic review
Curioni, C. C., & Lourenço, P. M. C. (2005) · International Journal of Obesity · doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803015 · Cited by 694 · see citing works
Intake of Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Risk of Stroke in Women
Iso, H. (2001) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.285.3.304 · Cited by 478 · see citing works
Reddy, J. K., & Mannaerts, G. P. (1994) · Annual Review of Nutrition · doi:10.1146/annurev.nu.14.070194.002015 · Cited by 418 · see citing works
Flachs, P., Horakova, O., Brauner, P., Rossmeisl, M., Pecina, P., Franssen-van Hal, N., Ruzickova, J., Sponarova, J., Drahota, Z., Vlcek, C., et al. (2005) · Diabetologia · doi:10.1007/s00125-005-1944-7 · Cited by 388 · see citing works
Wing, S. S., & Goldberg, A. L. (1993) · American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism · doi:10.1152/ajpendo.1993.264.4.e668 · Cited by 345 · see citing works
Effect of dietary fish oil on body fat mass and basal fat oxidation in healthy adults
Couet, C., Delarue, J., Ritz, P., Antoine, J.-M., & Lamisse, F. (1997) · International Journal of Obesity · doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0800451 · Cited by 344 · see citing works
Fish Consumption and Risk of Stroke in Men
He, K. (2002) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.288.24.3130 · Cited by 340 · see citing works
Hamdy, O., Ledbury, S., Mullooly, C., Jarema, C., Porter, S., Ovalle, K., Moussa, A., Caselli, A., Caballero, A. E., Economides, P. A., et al. (2003) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/diacare.26.7.2119 · Cited by 335 · see citing works
Ruzickova, J., Rossmeisl, M., Prazak, T., Flachs, P., Sponarova, J., Vecka, M., TVRZICKÁ, E., Bryhn, M., & Kopecký, J. (2004) · Lipids · doi:10.1007/s11745-004-1345-9 · Cited by 327 · see citing works
Mascaró, C., Acosta, E., Ortiz, J. A., Marrero, P. F., Hegardt, F. G., & Haro, D. (1998) · Journal of Biological Chemistry · doi:10.1074/jbc.273.15.8560 · Cited by 318 · see citing works
Kabir, M., Skurnik, G., Naour, N., Pechtner, V., Meugnier, E., Rome, S., Quignard-Boulangé, A., Vidal, H., Slama, G., Clément, K., et al. (2007) · The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1093/ajcn/86.5.1670 · Cited by 316 · see citing works
Todoric, J., Löffler, M. G., Huber, J., Bilban, M., Reimers, M., Kadl, A., Zeyda, M., Waldhäusl, W., & Stulnig, T. M. (2006) · Diabetologia · doi:10.1007/s00125-006-0300-x · Cited by 306 · see citing works
Obesity Blunts Insulin-Mediated Microvascular Recruitment in Human Forearm Muscle
Clerk, L. H., Keske, M. A., Jahn, L. A., Liu, Z., Lindner, J. R., & Barrett, E. J. (2006) · Diabetes · doi:10.2337/db05-1373 · Cited by 300 · see citing works
Clarke, S. D. (2000) · British Journal Of Nutrition · doi:10.1017/s0007114500000969 · Cited by 294 · see citing works
Randomized trial of weight-loss-diets for young adults varying in fish and fish oil content
Þórsdóttir, I., Tómasson, H., Gunnarsdóttir, I., Gisladottir, E. U., Kiely, M. E., Parra, M. D., Bandarra, N. M., Schaafsma, G., & Martínez, J. A. (2007) · International Journal of Obesity · doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803643 · Cited by 261 · see citing works
Dagenais, G. R., Tancredi, R. G., & Zierler, K. L. (1976) · Journal of Clinical Investigation · doi:10.1172/jci108486 · Cited by 238 · see citing works
Hill, A. M., Buckley, J. D., Murphy, K. J., & Howe, P. R. C. (2007) · American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1093/ajcn/85.5.1267 · Cited by 237 · see citing works
Self-citationKrebs, J. D., Browning, L. M., McLean, N., Rothwell, J. L., Mishra, G. D., Moore, C. S., & Jebb, S. A. (2006) · International Journal of Obesity · doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803309 · Cited by 221 · see citing works
Garaulet, M., Morante, J. J. H., Luján, J., Tébar, F. J., & Zamora, S. (2006) · International Journal of Obesity · doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803219 · Cited by 215 · see citing works
Anti‐obesity effects of long‐chain omega‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
Buckley, J. D., & Howe, P. R. C. (2009) · Obesity Reviews · doi:10.1111/j.1467-789x.2009.00584.x · Cited by 213 · see citing works
Self-citationGaraulet, M., Pérez‐Llamas, F., Perez‐Ayala, M., Martı́nez, P., de Medina, F. S., Tébar, F. J., & Zamora, S. (2001) · American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1093/ajcn/74.5.585 · Cited by 211 · see citing works
Plasman-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are negatively associated with obesity
Micallef, M. A., Munro, I., Phang, M., & Garg, M. L. (2009) · British Journal Of Nutrition · doi:10.1017/s0007114509382173 · Cited by 204 · see citing works
Baillie, R., TAKADA, R., Nakamura, M., & Clarke, S. D. (1999) · Prostaglandins Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids · doi:10.1016/s0952-3278(99)80011-8 · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Belzung, F., Raclot, T., & Groscolas, R. (1993) · American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology · doi:10.1152/ajpregu.1993.264.6.r1111 · Cited by 193 · see citing works
Gingras, A., White, P. J., Chouinard, P. Y., Julien, P., Davis, T. A., Dombrowski, L., Couture, Y., Dubreuil, P., Myre, A., Bergeron, K., et al. (2007) · The Journal of Physiology · doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2006.121079 · Cited by 193 · see citing works
Fish Consumption and Risk of Stroke: The Zutphen Study
Keli, S., Feskens, E., & Kromhout, D. (1994) · Stroke · doi:10.1161/01.str.25.2.328 · Cited by 187 · see citing works
Parra, D., Ramel, A., Bandarra, N., Kiely, M., Martinez, J., & Thorsdottir, I. (2008) · Appetite · doi:10.1016/j.appet.2008.06.003 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Power, G. W., & Newsholme, E. A. (1997) · Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1093/jn/127.11.2142 · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Kunešová, M., Braunerová, R., Hlavatý, P., TVRZICKÁ, E., Staňková, B., Škrha, J., Hilgertová, J., Hill, M., Kopecký, J., Wagenknecht, M., et al. (2006) · Physiological Research · doi:10.33549/physiolres.930770 · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Huang, X., Xin, X., McLennan, P. L., & Storlien, L. H. (2003) · Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism · doi:10.1111/j.1463-1326.2004.00312.x · Cited by 151 · see citing works
Dietary fish oils limit adipose tissue hypertrophy in rats
Parrish, C. C., Pathy, D. A., & Ángel, A. (1990) · Metabolism · doi:10.1016/0026-0495(90)90038-e · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Wyke, S. M., & Tisdale, M. J. (2005) · British Journal of Cancer · doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6602402 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Brown, A. J., Pang, E., & Roberts, D. C. K. (1991) · American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1093/ajcn/54.4.668 · Cited by 121 · see citing works
Mori, T., Kondo, H., Hase, T., Tokimitsu, I., & Murase, T. (2007) · Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1093/jn/137.12.2629 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
n-3 Essential fatty acids decrease weight gain in genetically obese mice
Cunnane, S. C., McAdoo, K. R., & Horrobin, D. F. (1986) · British Journal Of Nutrition · doi:10.1079/bjn19860088 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Downregulation of ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis by eicosapentaenoic acid in acute starvation
Whitehouse, A. S., & Tisdale, M. J. (2001) · Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications · doi:10.1006/bbrc.2001.5209 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Hainault, I., CARLOTTI, M., Hajduch, É., Guichard, C., & Lavau, M. M. (1993) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1993.tb35696.x · Cited by 89 · see citing works
DHA-rich fish oil lowers heart rate during submaximal exercise in elite Australian Rules footballers
Buckley, J. D., Burgess, S. A., Murphy, K. J., & Howe, P. R. C. (2008) · Journal of science and medicine in sport · doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2008.01.011 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Self-citationFontani, G., Corradeschi, F., Felici, A., Alfatti, F., Bugarini, R., Fiaschi, A. I., Cerretani, D., Montorfano, G., Rizzo, A. M., & Berra, B. (2005) · European Journal of Clinical Investigation · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2362.2005.01540.x · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Lorente‐Cebrián, S., Bustos, M., Martí, A., Martínez, J. A., & Moreno-Aliaga, M. J. (2009) · Clinical Science · doi:10.1042/cs20090020 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Walser, B., Giordano, R. M., & Stebbins, C. L. (2006) · European Journal of Applied Physiology · doi:10.1007/s00421-006-0190-0 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Visceral and Subcutaneous Adiposity and Brachial Artery Vasodilator Function
Parikh, N. I., Keyes, M. J., Larson, M. G., Pou, K. M., Hamburg, N. M., Vita, J. A., O’Donnell, C. J., Vasan, R. S., Mitchell, G. F., Hoffmann, U., et al. (2009) · Obesity · doi:10.1038/oby.2009.60 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Combined effects of aerobic exercise and omega-3 fatty acids in hyperlipidemic persons
Warner, J. G., ULLRICH, I. H., Albrink, M. J., & YEATER, R. A. (1989) · Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise · doi:10.1249/00005768-198910000-00003 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Effect of fish oil supplementation and exercise on serum lipids and aerobic fitness.
BRILLA, L. R., & Landerholm, T. E. (1990) · PubMed · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Regulation of Muscle Blood Flow in Obesity
Hodnett, B. L., & Hester, R. L. (2007) · Microcirculation · doi:10.1080/10739680701282143 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Effect of glucose infusion on muscle malonyl-CoA during exercise
Elayan, I., & Winder, W. W. (1991) · Journal of Applied Physiology · doi:10.1152/jappl.1991.70.4.1495 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Effect of Long-Term Feeding of Taurine in Hereditary Hyperglycemic Obese Mice
Fujihira, E., Takahashi, H., & NAKAZAWA, M. (1970) · Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin · doi:10.1248/cpb.18.1636 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Motawi, T. K., Hashem, R. M., Rashed, L. A., & El-Razek, S. M. A. (2009) · Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology · doi:10.1211/jpp/61.10.0010 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [46]Vanden Heuvel J.P. Fatty Acid Transcriptomics Proceedings of the 8th Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids Kansas City, MO, USA 17–22 May 2008 115
Cited by
Sorted by citations
ω-3 and ω-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, Obesity and Cancer
D’Angelo, S., Motti, M. L., & Meccariello, R. (2020) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu12092751 · Cited by 250 · see citing works
Lepretti, M., Martucciello, S., Burgos Aceves, M., Putti, R., & Lionetti, L. (2018) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu10030350 · Cited by 232 · see citing works
Logan, S. L., & Spriet, L. L. (2015) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0144828 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Vuksan, V., Jenkins, A. L., Brissette, C., Choleva, L., Jovanovski, E., Gibbs, A. L., Bazinet, R. P., Au-Yeung, F., Zurbau, A., Ho, H. V. T., et al. (2017) · Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases · doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2016.11.124 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Zhang, Y. Y., Liu, W., Zhao, T. Y., & Tian, H. M. (2017) · The Journal of nutrition, health and aging · doi:10.1007/s12603-016-0755-5 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Yang, C., Xia, H., Wan, M., Lu, Y., Xu, D., Yang, X., Yang, L., & Sun, G. (2021) · Nutrition & Metabolism · doi:10.1186/s12986-021-00619-3 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Itsiopoulos, C., Marx, W., Mayr, H. L., Tatucu-Babet, O. A., Dash, S. R., George, E. S., Trakman, G. L., Kelly, J. T., Thomas, C. J., & Brazionis, L. (2018) · Journal of Nutrition & Intermediary Metabolism · doi:10.1016/j.jnim.2018.02.002 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Homeostatic and Circadian Control of Food Intake: Clinical Strategies to Prevent Overconsumption
Drapeau, V., & Gallant, A. R. (2013) · Current Obesity Reports · doi:10.1007/s13679-012-0038-3 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
- Authors
- Buckley, J. D., & Howe, P. R. C.
- Affiliations
- University of South Australia (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Buckley, Jonathan D.
- Venue
- Nutrients
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2010-12-09
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1212-1230
- ISSN
- 2072-6643 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3257626
- OpenAlex
- W2108327023
- Cited by
- 229
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 29 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 13
- FWCI
- 1.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nutrients (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UniSA Research Outputs Repository (University of South Australia) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Fatty Acid Research and Health
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Aquaculture Nutrition and Growth
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Pharmacology and Obesity Treatment
- Keywords
- n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, obesity, appetite suppression, fat oxidation, energy expenditure, fat deposition, dietary supplementation, hypocaloric diet, physical activity, gene expression
- MeSH terms
- Adipose Tissue, Animals, Body Composition, Cross-Sectional Studies, Diet, Female, Humans, Male, Obesity, Fatty Acids, Omega-3, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Dietary Supplements, Mice, Rats
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
