Omega-3 Fats Prevent Breast Cancer
• Animal experiments have shown that a diet rich in linoleic acid (omega-6 fatty acids) promotes the growth of malignant breast cancer tumors
• However, the addition of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids to the diet can block this effect
• Epidemiological studies have shown that countries with a high intake of omega-3 acids from fish have lower breast cancer rates. Researchers evaluated over 250 patients with breast cancer and analyzed their fat relative to 90 women without breast cancer
Int J Cancer March 2002 1;98(1):78-83
While we now know that EFA’s (Essential Fatty Acids) are exactly that – essential to the existence of a healthy body, have you noticed the confusion about how much of each we should be taking? Why do some say ‘we must have all our omegas’, while others say ‘omega-3 is the only one’? Omega-6 is abundant in our diets, its everywhere we look! In nearly all processed and packaged foods under the wording ‘vegetable oil’, it dominates our diets in the form of sunflower, canola (real name ‘rape seed oil’, no wonder they changed its name!) oil and low grade olive oils such as pomace oil, a very cheap oil which is used to fry chips and fast foods, amongst others.
The important point is to keep our EFA intake balanced. Because we have so much omega-6 and 9 (olive oil, seeds, nuts, etc) without even trying, we need to increase omega-3 to get the ratio right. In early humans the ratio was about 1:1 between omega-3 and 6. Currently most Americans eat a dietary ratio that falls between 20:1 and 50:1. For most of us to achieve this we must reduce omega-6 and increase omega-3 on a daily basis. Eating more fish is the natural way to do this, but we must be aware of heavy metal poisoning, so a pharmaceutical grade omega-3 fish oil supplement is free from possible toxic poisoning from deep sea fish and will give you adequate supplies of healthy omega-3
• However, the addition of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids to the diet can block this effect
• Epidemiological studies have shown that countries with a high intake of omega-3 acids from fish have lower breast cancer rates. Researchers evaluated over 250 patients with breast cancer and analyzed their fat relative to 90 women without breast cancer
Int J Cancer March 2002 1;98(1):78-83
While we now know that EFA’s (Essential Fatty Acids) are exactly that – essential to the existence of a healthy body, have you noticed the confusion about how much of each we should be taking? Why do some say ‘we must have all our omegas’, while others say ‘omega-3 is the only one’? Omega-6 is abundant in our diets, its everywhere we look! In nearly all processed and packaged foods under the wording ‘vegetable oil’, it dominates our diets in the form of sunflower, canola (real name ‘rape seed oil’, no wonder they changed its name!) oil and low grade olive oils such as pomace oil, a very cheap oil which is used to fry chips and fast foods, amongst others.
The important point is to keep our EFA intake balanced. Because we have so much omega-6 and 9 (olive oil, seeds, nuts, etc) without even trying, we need to increase omega-3 to get the ratio right. In early humans the ratio was about 1:1 between omega-3 and 6. Currently most Americans eat a dietary ratio that falls between 20:1 and 50:1. For most of us to achieve this we must reduce omega-6 and increase omega-3 on a daily basis. Eating more fish is the natural way to do this, but we must be aware of heavy metal poisoning, so a pharmaceutical grade omega-3 fish oil supplement is free from possible toxic poisoning from deep sea fish and will give you adequate supplies of healthy omega-3
Further reading:
Britsh Journal of Cancer
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