FISH OIL PREVENTS PROSTATE CANCER
Dietary intake of omega 3 and 6 oils and risk of prostate cancer

Introduction
It is fairly common knowledge that no matter the ultimate cause of death in elderly men, there is almost always evidence of prostate cancer. This is a non-fatal cancer which remains localized within the prostate and has nothing to do with the actual cause of death. There is however another more aggressive cancer which spreads beyond the prostate into surrounding organs and bone. This type of prostate cancer causes death in both young and old men and it is called advanced prostate cancer. The cancer referred to in the discussion below is always the aggressive, killer advanced type.

Early Investigations
Dietary fat has for years been suspected as being associated with advanced prostate cancer. Exactly which type of fat may be the culprit has led to laboratory tests which have shown that omega 3 fats from fish, that is Eicosopentaenoic Acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) inhibit cancer cell proliferation in prostate tissue whereas omega 6 fat or Linoleic Acid (LA) and omega 3 fat Alpha Linolenic Acid (ALA) from plant & seed sources stimulate cancer in the prostate.

Latest News: The Health Professionals Follow-Up Study
This study is written up in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2004; 80:204-216.

The Method
47,866 men between ages 40 – 70 years with no history of prostate cancer were followed from 1986 for 14 years. These men regularly reported on food-frequency questionnaires all foods they consumed as well as their use of dietary supplements.

The Results
2,965 subjects developed prostate cancer and of those 448 were advanced prostate cancers. ALA, the omega 3 oil from vegetable sources, was shown to be associated with the development of advanced prostate cancer only. EPA and DHA, the omega 3 oils from fish reduced the risk of both ordinary prostate cancer and the deadly advanced prostate cancer.

The Mechanism
Plant sources of omega 3 oils (ALA, eg. as found in flaxseed oil) have different effects on prostate cancer compared to marine sources (EPA, DHA) because the ALA has to be converted to EPA and DHA first and this (especially the conversion to DHA) is not readily accomplished in humans (see other oil articles on the website). The EPA and DHA are transformed into anti-inflammatory prostaglandins which also inhibit cancers. ALA by itself does not have these anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects.

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