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OMEGA 3 AND CANCER

Studies indicate the following:

  1. Feeding omega 3 has slowed the growth of the tumour and made it less likely that the cancer would spread. (Galli, Claudia, Butrum, Simopoulos et al, eds 1991, Karger, Basel, p462-476)
  2. A study of 12, 866 American men determined that those eating high amounts of omega 3 and low amounts of omega 6 had a 33% lower risk of dying from cancer. (Dolecek, There and Grandits, World Review Nutr. Diet, Karger, 1991, 66: 205-216)
  3. Tissues taken from 100 skin cancer patients were compared with skin from 100 healthy individuals and it was found that the more omega 6 found in a person’s tissues, the more likely they were to have cancer. (MacKie, MacKie and Bourne, Nutr and Cancer, 1987 9, 205-216)
  4. A comparison of cancerous brain tumours with healthy tissue revealed that omega 6 was 4x more prevalent in the cancerous tissues. (Martin, Robbins and Hussy, Lipids, 1996, 31: 1238-1288)
  5. Incidence of breast cancer increased as Greenland and Icelandic women abandoned their traditional diets of marine life (mainly seal which is very high in omega 3) (Bjarnason, Int. J., Cancer, 1974, 13: 689-696)
  6. In a 8 year study of 846 men, those given a diet high in omega 6 were twice as likely to die of cancer as those eating a diet low in omega 6. (Pearce and Dayton, The Lancet, 1971, 464-467.)
  7. "For breast cancer, omega 6 fatty acids appear to have the greater cancer promoting effects and omega 3 fatty acids are the most protective." (C.L. Williams, M., Bollella, Laura Boccia and Arlene Spark, “Dietary Fat and Children” Nutrition today, vol 33, no 4: July/Aug 1998)
  8. In animal experiments, dietary corn oil very high in omega 6 has been shown to stimulate lung cancer of the adenocarcinoma type. (Okuyama, Kobayashi and Watanabe. p.415)
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How does Omega 3 Work to Reduce The Risk Of Cancer?

Research indicates the following:

  1. Consuming more omega 3 makes the omega 6 linolenic acid that promote tumour growth less available.
  2. Omega 3 makes the cancer cells more vulnerable to free-radical attack by rendering the membranes less saturated.
  3. Omega 3 seems to promote the self-destruction of cancer cells thereby slowing tumour growth.