According to a British study conducted on more than 22,000 adults, including 517 with diabetes, it was revealed that eating fish twice a week can reduce the risk of kidney damage in diabetics.

The subjects answered questionnaires about their diet habits. This also included how much fish they ate in a week. The urine samples of the participants in the survey were analyzed for the presence of a protein called albumin. Presence of albumin in urine is an indicator of kidney damage.

According to the data collected by the researchers it was concluded that diabetics (most of whom had type 2), who on average ate less than one serving of fish each week were four times more likely to have albumin in their urine than people with diabetes who ate fish twice a week 

"Protein in the urine is one of the earliest signs of kidney disease, a serious complication of diabetes," says study co-author Amanda Adler, an epidemiologist with the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

Susan Spratt, assistant professor of medicine in the division of endocrinology at Duke University Medical Center, opines that it's too early to recommend diet changes based on the findings. "People who eat fish might have other healthier habits," she says.

The researchers have yet to conduct clinical trials to prove their claim. "But it wouldn't hurt patients to eat more fish," says Spratt, who recommends fish oil to lower triglycerides in her diabetes patients who do not respond to or tolerate other therapies.