(Chris Woollams. CANCERactive) People get very confused about omega-3. It can be found in good quantities, for example, in a variety of common sources such as fish oils, krill oil and flaxseed; and it is important for general health, your brain (from IQ levels to dementia), your longevity (via protection of telomeres), heart disease and cancer. Both in terms of prevention and fighting disease. But are all omega-3 sources equal?
Few people realise that several hundred years ago the organic food we ate -plants, fish and game - contained far, far higher levels of omega-3 than the mass-market produce we have in our supermarkets today. Several hundred years ago we consumed large amounts of omega-3 daily. Importantly, we maintained a balance in our diets with levels of omega-3 being equal to, or greater than, the total level of omega-6 plus omega-9 consumed. Nowadays a typical New York dweller is likely to consume 1 unit of omega-3 to almost 50 units of the others. No wonder health is suffering; the balance is completely wrong.
Some 50 years ago, many mothers compensated by giving their children daily fish oils. However, this is a habit in major decline.
Fish oils contain long-chain omega-3 and, depending upon the fish, both vitamin A and vitamin D, while most contain good levels of selenium. These four all have research which suggests they may have active roles in fighting cancer. However there´s a ´but´. A BIG ´but´. Thanks to the pollution of our seas and to the fact that oil is a good solvent, impure fish oils may contain toxins such as mercury, PCB´s, heavy metals and even radioactive poisons. Yummy!
Two fats in omega-3 oils - DHA and EPA - are crucial to your health and quality research studies indicate they can have a positive effect on health matters such as heart function and your brain, through to cancer prevention. You should be aware that fish oil can turn rancid and so should be stored in the ´fridge.
Many vegetarians tell me that you don´t need to take fish oils - flaxseed (linseed) is just as good. They consume flax oil or sprinkle cracked linseed on their breakfast cereal. Again there´s a ´but´. Flaxseed contains a different omega-3: Short-chain omega-3. It can convert in the body to long-chain, but only about 14 per cent ever does. The good news is that this form of omega-3 has notable other anti-cancer benefits.
The fact is you should include both ´long´ and ´short´ in your daily diet.
Long-chain Omega-3 has many health benefits
Issues with toxins and fish oils may be overcome if you go to a good supplier and ask for their purity assessment. But there is another way: Krill Oil.
It would be nice to think you could consume all the omega-3 you needed simply by consuming oily fish. You cannot. Recent research showed canned ´oily fish´ was almost ´dry´, and supplementing daily beat consuming fresh oily fish considerably. The FDA and the Environmental Agency in America have also warned children and pregnant women against consuming certain fish and shell fish due to toxins.
Kril are very tiny shrimp-like creatures which are a major food source for fish, seals and even whales and birds. Together with plankton, they form the largest biomass in the ocean; they are at the very bottom of the food chain and their primary home is the clear, cold water of the Antarctic, so they do not contain the toxins associated with fish oils. Krill are pink in colour due to the presence of ´Astaxanthin´, a powerful antioxidant which is being shown to have many claims to fame in major clinical trials. (To read about Astaxanthin, CLICK HERE)
Importantly, krill have been consumed (for example, by the Japanese as a delicacy) for over 200 years. Not only are they good sources of omega-3 oils, but the oils are contained in phospholipid ´packages´ which make them more easily absorbed by your cells. One phospholipid is phosphotidyl choline - choline crosses the blood/brain barrier and nourishes the brain.
Much research has been undertaken on krill oil and, again, there are good and less good brands!
So let´s look into the benefits of omega-3 in more depth.
Omega-3; the long and short of it
You may have read a lot about omega-3, omega 6 and even omega 9 oils. Let´s clear up a few things first. Oils are the same as fats but in the liquid form. As if that wasn´t enough omega 3 can be found in short-chain and long-chain forms. The long-chain form is found in fish oils, the short form in plants. It is worth saying right up front that omega 3 long-chain oils are the better; the body can use the short-chain version, alpha linolenic acid, in certain ways, but only converts about 14 per cent to the long-chain form which has more powerful anti-inflammatory benefits. However flaxseed has other blood oxygenation and anti-oestrogen benefits as we will see later.
One odd thing is that there is research showing that a glass of red wine increases blood omega-3 levels. No one seems to know why! .
Thousands of years ago, our diets were originally 2:1 in favour of omega-3 over omega-6. By the 1900´s that had become 1:1. Now the average New York female has a 1:25 or even 1:50 diet. Supplementing with Evening Primrose oil, which increases omega-6 levels, for menstrual problems worsens this.
Long-chain omega-3 oils only come from oil-rich fish. Table A shows the relative benefits of these various cold, salt-water fish.
The origins of these long chain polyunsaturated fats are the microscopic algae, plankton and krill that the fish feed on. Sadly, of course, fish farming methods may mean less consumption of these vital nutrients.
|Cod Liver oil
|Rock Salmon (dogfish)
Volumes in gms per 100 gms of edible portion
Short-chain omega-3 oils are found in flaxseed or linseed and rapeseed amongst others.
By contrast omega-6 (linoleic acid) is found in sunflower, sesame and safflower oils; in its gamma form it is found in evening primrose oil and borage.
1. Omega-3 and your brain
The brain contains high levels of omega-3
Earliest man consumed omega-3 from a variety of sources - plants, game and even from animal skulls - even the brain left behind in the carcass of a dinosaur victim. Your brain contains high levels of omega-3.
If you are thinking of buying omega-3 or krill oil, you might like to look in the Natural Selection Shop. You can do this by clicking here
Omega-3 is thought to be linked to our intelligence; children who took regular supplementation were shown in US studies, by the age of 12 years, to have lQs 11 per cent higher than those that didn´t. In three research studies with problematic teenagers in American Institutional care, those given omega-3 supplements were found to have less behavioural problems at the end of the studies. A deficiency of Omega-3 has also been linked to both Alzheimer´s and dementia in research.
Three studies from the USA in 2008, all recorded in the American Journal of Nutrition studied the health and longevity of the elderly. The results showed that people with low blood levels of omega-3 had a higher risk of death from all causes and an accelerated brain function decline.
The findings also showed that supplementation needed to be a life-time habit and that short term ´pushes´ had little effect.
2. Omega-3 and ageing
Telomeres are protective proteins that sit on cells and gradually shorten over time as your cells divide and repair themselves. This shortening process is thought to be linked to ageing. Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, have found that omega-3 fatty acids prevent the shortening process (Journal of the American Medical Association). In a study of 608 patients across a 5 year period, those with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood experienced a slowing of the shortening of their telomeres, indicating that the fatty acids help to slow the ageing process. The study did not differentiate between the specific sources of omega-3s, (whether from fish or flaxseed or from supplements).
Telomeres have been likened to the plastic end caps on shoelaces that keep them from unraveling, indicating that they maintain the integrity of cells. Problems with telomeres have been linked to a number of diseases.
3. Omega 3 and cancer
There is a growing body of evidence which shows that omega-3 has a crucial role in cancer prevention and possibly even cure.
One important role seems to be that of reducing cellular inflammation - the pre-cursor to cancer.
Nobel prizes have been won in this field starting with Sir John Vane in 1982. Chemical substances have been found in the cell nuclear envelope, which can both affect cellular health, or bring on cellular death. These substances are hormones called eicosanoids. Like all hormones they are powerful chemicals, but unlike other hormones that are made in specific glands, these are made by every cell in your body. They only ´last´ from 1.5 to 6 or 7 seconds but are very powerful.
Some eicosanoids are good, some are bad
Some eicosanoids are good, some are bad, and some that are good in low volumes, are bad in excess! There are over 120 different eicosanoids in total. One enzyme (called Cox-2) can encourage the production of the bad eicosanoids, rather than good ones. This enzyme is stimulated by substances such as steroids, insulin and cortisol (the stress hormone).
However long-chain omega-3 seems to inhibit the Cox-2 enzyme, cutting the production of bad eicosanoids and allowing the production of a greater proportion of ´good´ local hormones. Other natural compounds that can reduce Cox-2 include aspirin, aloe vera, ginger, garlic and curcumin.
Eicosanoids provide the last link in the chain that delivers messages from your brain to Iocalised cells in your breast or prostate. So, if your brain feels stressed this will be communicated (via cortisol for example) to the nuclear envelope in your breast cells and so your breast cells will be feel the effects of that stress too.
Also eicosanoids and Cox-2 are known to play a role in the pathways involved in malignancy.
Eicosanoids play a key role in cell signalling, primarily in oxidative pathways. Cox-2 plays a role in cell growth, and human tumour cells have high levels of Cox-2. Cox-2 also plays a key role in the synthesis of prostaglandins, which are found mainly in inflammatory and immune cells. While, prostaglandins and other ´bad´ eicosanoids bring about tissue responses such as wound repair and inflammation, but in excess they are implicated totally in many modern diseases e.g. atherosclerosis, rheumatic diseases, Alzheimer´s and cancers.
Why take drugs when the fundamental answer lies in increasing your long-term regular intake of omega-3?
Cox-2 levels are high in 85 per cent of colon cancers (Dubois, Vanderbilt), and also in breast cancer. Work is underway on drugs, which block Cox-2. But why take drugs when the fundamental answer lies in increasing your long-term intake of omega-3?
The International Journal of Cancer in March 2002 reported on a study with 250 women with breast cancer and the findings that women who are cancer-free have much higher omega-3 fatty acid levels in their breast tissue! This research seems to be repeated all around the world every few months! By 2010 it was the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle who followed 35,000 women over a number of years and showed that those who supplemented regularly with fish oils had a third less breast cancers. In between those two studies there were similar findings from Perth to Harvard!
Harvard have shown similar findings with men and prostate cancer.
Possibly the most significant is the work with colorectal cancer where there is now a large, consistent body of evidence that shows omega-3 and fish oils can reduce inflammation and the size of polyps that are usually the precursor to colorectal or bowel cancer. In 2010 Leeds University Medical School led a study involving a number of cancer centres, where patients took a concentrate of omega-3 and hereditary high-risk targets for colorectal cancer saw large reductions in their development of polyps. Several studies show this polyp reduction to be the case even where the patient has already had a colorectal cancer.
b) Blood oxygenation
Dr Joanna Budwig was a physicist, biochemist and cancer expert. She was a leading expert on fat and oil metabolism and showed that consumption of bad fats could lead to fatty deposits in the heart and arteries blocking circulation, damaging heart action, inhibiting cell renewal and disrupting the normal flow of blood and lymph fluids. She also noted the loss of essential lipoproteins and phosphatides in the Western modern diet, and the link to increased levels of cancer.
Dr Budwig also showed that the blood of cancer patients especially those in the later stages of the disease was a greenish, yellow rather than a red, due to the lack of iron-carrying oxygen haemoglobin.
In her own research studies she showed that after treating the patients with flaxseed oil daily for several months, the oxygen carrying capacity increased due to the increased presence of lipoproteins and phosphatides. Furthermore, in clinical trials she actually showed that tumour size decreased.
You can read more about the Budwig Diet Protocol by clicking here.
Flaxseed and lignin consumption shows up in the urine. And women with the highest levels in their urine have the lowest levels of breast cancer, a finding shown in studies from America to Japan. Secoisolariciresinol (SDG) is the natural lignin found in flaxseed. Research shows SDG has a direct effect on human oestrogen metabolism and also on its receptor sites. Oestrogen fuels the fire of many cancers. Research also shows SDG stops the action of oestrogen in stimulating cancer cells.
SDG also increases the production of ´Sex hormone binding globulin´. This binds oestrogen, reduces the free oestrogen in the body, and reduces the stimulatory effect of oestrogen on cell division. In research where animals were given a high fat diet and cancer cells, flaxseed reduced the levels of cancer found when it was also added to the mix. Animals with a highly potent metastatic cancer line had their tumours reduce in size and metastasis almost stop when given high levels of flaxseed.
Two studies covered in Cancer Watch with animals given a cancer-inducing chemical for 13 weeks, showed less cancers and smaller tumours, if the animals also took SDG one study reported 46 per cent less cancers if pure SDG was used.
Post-menopausal women given flaxseed supplementation for seven weeks showed increased levels of properly metabolised oestrogen in their urine. Another test on women newly diagnosed with breast cancer showed that factors associated with tumour growth fell 33 per cent in the group taking flaxseed.
As we said above, you should consider your consumption levels of both long-chain omega-3 AND short-chain omega-3.
Flaxseed, flax oil or linseeds can be found in all the big health stores. But it is important to look for organic, freshly pressed oil, as it can go ´rancid´ in storage.
With fish oils there are some points to watch for:
As we pointed out above, you must endeavour to ensure your fish oil, or the oily fish you consume, is toxin free. Fish oils should be kept cool.
Also, you should be aware that an excess of certain fish oils can overdose your body with vitamin A, which can cause liver problems. Normally, 1000 mgs per day of cod liver oil, or 2000 mgs of un-enriched fish oils will be perfectly safe.
Your grandmother was right - fish oils are good for you - every day and consistently over time. But she probably didn´t know all about krill oil.
If you are thinking of buying a fish oil or krill oil supplement, or flax oil, you might like to look at the Natural Selection ´Products of Choice´. They have flaxseed oils that can be prepared to order, and the top rated Krill oil from American Health expert, Dr Mercola. You can go to the Natural Selection site by clicking here.
*NB. There has been some research in the American Journal of Clinical Medicine that fish oils may be dangerous to certain diabetics. At all times we suggest you take proper medical advice.
At last - the definitive, research-based book on how to build a diet to help beat cancer. Click here to read about it.Please be clear: At CANCERactive we do not consider the above compound to be a cure for cancer, despite what the research says or experts doing the research may claim. The above, is an article on the compound from published research and expert opinion in the public domain. At CANCERactive we do not believe that any single compound (drug, vitamin, whatever) is a cure for cancer. We believe that people can significantly increase their personal odds of survival by building an Integrated Programme of treatments. Equally, cancer prevention is best practiced through a width of measures.