Effect of fatty fish or nut consumption on concentrations of persistent organic pollutants in overweight or obese men and women: A randomized controlled clinical trial
Sasa Dusanov Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases Volume 30, Issue 3, 9 March 2020, Pages 448-458
Highlights
• We studied overweight and obese individuals with high risk of developingcardiometabolic disturbances, caused by high intakes of POPs in a randomized controlled clinical trial.
• We explored whether high consumption of fatty fish increased serum concentrationsof 15 POPs compared to nut group and controls at baseline and the end of the study.
• Changes in concentrations of POPs did not differ between the dietary groups and controls (p>0.05). HDL-cholesterol increased only in the fatty fish group compared to controls (+0.10 mmol/L, CI (0.05−0.20); p=0.005).
Background and aims
While excess energy intake and physical inactivity constitute the obvious causes of body fat accumulation, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are novel factors that have been linked to cardiometabolic disorders. Major sources of POPs are animal fats including fatty fish. Given the putative protective effects of fish on cardiovascular disease, we explored whether high consumption of fatty fish increased serum concentrations of POPs.
Methods and results
Men and women aged 35–70 years with body mass index between 25 and 38 kg/m2 and at least 1 cardiometabolic component were randomized to high intakes of fatty fish (mostly farmed salmon, ∼630 g/week; n = 45), high intakes of nuts (∼200 g/week; n = 42) or a control group following their usual diet but restricting fatty fish and nuts for 6 months (n = 44). Concentrations of 15 POPs (5 organochlorinated compounds, 2 dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls and 8 non-dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls) and cardiometabolic risk factors were measured at baseline and end of the study. Results showed that changes in concentrations of individual and classes of POPs did not differ between the dietary groups and controls (p > 0.05). Among cardiometabolic risk factors HDL-cholesterol increased in the fatty fish group compared to controls (+0.10 mmol/L, CI (0.05–0.20); p = 0.005) while no changes were observed in the group consuming nuts.
Conclusion
Fatty fish consumption for 6 months did not increase the serum concentrations of POPs in individuals with overweight or obesity and metabolic risk. While this finding appears reassuring regarding short-term intakes of farmed salmon, long term variations in POPs in adipose stores require further study.