Wednesday November 5, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- Eating a couple or more of servings of fish each week may help diabetics protect against kidney disease, according to a study published in the American Journal of Kidney Disease.

The study of more than 22,000 adults led by Amanda Adler, MD, PhD, of Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, England and colleagues showed that eating fish lowered abnormal levels of protein in the urine in people with diabetes, but not in those without diabetes.   High levels of protein have been linked with kidney disease.

Early studies have found consumption of fish and fish oil diseases protein in the urine, increases glucose tolerance, and lowers fats in the blood and blood pressure, which are beneficial to diabetics.

The study was part of the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC) intended to investigate the association between diet and cancer. The study involved 22,384 mostly middle-aged and older white men and women of whom 517 had diabetes.

The researchers found that diabetes people who ate less than one serving of fish each week were four times more likely to have macroalbuminuria or abnormally high levels of protein in the urine than those who ate fish regularly.

But the seemingly protective effect was not found in people without diabetes.