by David Steinman
In the battle against breast cancer, what really works when it comes to diet and nutrition? Are there some foods that are better than others? Are there dietary supplements that proactive women should know about?

Most experts agree today that some of the most important preventive nutrients for women’s health are the omega-3 fatty acids. They are found almost exclusively in wild Pacific salmon and other coldwater fatty fish, as well as in flaxseed.

But why are the omega-3s so beneficial? Omega-3 fatty acids, which help to maintain healthy inflammation levels in the body and promote healthy blood flow, are actually very rarely part of the American diet. Unless women were to eat a great deal of salmon, herring or trout, almost every day, or tons of leafy greens, these vulnerable fatty acids are much too sensitive to ever survive in the processed foods and oils most of us subsist on. No meal of fish and chips, as tasty as all that omega-6 rich food is, could have any omega-3s. The deep frying wipes them out or turns them so rancid and misshapen they could actually harm your tissues. Fish and chips and other processed foods, as well as corn oil, beef and chicken, tend to be loaded with pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids. These are “bad” fats, the ones that most diets are loaded with, and that seem to enhance tissue damage to women’s bodies, including breast tissue.

You’ll find the omega-6 fatty acids to be plentiful in baked goods, hydrogenated fats and oils, and highly refined bottled cooking oils, such as corn and safflower oil.

In contrast, while the average body today is loaded with omega-6 fatty acids, up to one fifth of all Americans have almost no omega-3 fatty acids in their bloodstreams.

You Need Fish Oils

Yet, where omega-3 intake is high, breast cancer rates are low. For example, a case-control study published in 2002 in the International Journal of Cancer of 329 women patients with invasive but non-metastatic breast cancer and women with benign breast disease shows that women with the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their breast tissues have the least risk of experiencing invasive breast cancer. The risk reduction for some women was nearly 70 percent.

What About Use with Breast Cancer Treatment?

If you have active breast cancer and are in treatment, you should share with your doctor the findings from a study at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, which was published in the Journal of Nutrition in December 2004. Supplementing the diet with omega-3 fatty acids (also known as n-3s in the report) slowed the growth of various types of cancers, including lung, colon, mammary and prostate.

“The efficacy of cancer chemotherapy drugs, such as doxorubicin, epirubicin, CPT-11, 5-fluorouracil and tamoxifen, and of radiation therapy has been improved when the diet included (n-3) fatty acids,” the researchers state. “In humans, (n-3) fatty acids have also been used to suppress cancer-associated cachexia [wasting] and to improve the quality of life. In one study, the response to chemotherapy therapy was better in breast cancer patients with higher levels of (n-3) fatty acids in adipose tissue [indicating past consumption of (n-3) fatty acids] than in patients with lower levels of (n-3) fatty acids. Thus, in combination with standard treatments, supplementing the diet with (n-3) fatty acids may be a nontoxic means to improve cancer treatment outcomes and may slow or prevent recurrence of cancer. Used alone, an (n-3) supplement may be a useful alternative therapy for patients who are not candidates for standard toxic cancer therapies.”

Women should seriously discuss with their doctors whether to continue using fish oil capsules or eating large amounts of omega-3 rich fish like salmon while they are undergoing chemotherapy and make an informed decision. These findings from a respected publication like the Journal of Nutrition are powerful.

For women in or out of treatment or who want to do everything possible to put their core diet and nutrition values on a bedrock of science, fish oils appear to offer solid help.

Choosing a Quality Product

Ribbon Nutrition’s Fresh Catch Fish Oil can be recommended and perhaps even preferred for these three reasons (particularly the third, which allows us to perform a good deed for others):
1) Its freshness is assured.
2) Its purity from pollutants is certified.
3) Ten percent of every dollar to Ribbon Nutrition goes to fund important groundbreaking groups, such as Women Beyond Cancer, Pink Penguin Press and Live Saving Email, which are dedicated not only to finding a cure for breast cancer but also dedicated to empowering women to prevent its occurrence, and offer integrated and holistic programs of health that ensure greater rates of survival.

About Fresh Catch Fish Oil

A purified, extremely fresh, stabilized fish oil, Fresh Catch is said by Ribbon Nutrition to have nearly twice the eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) of most other fish oil supplements.

The formula’s omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, are the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids found in wild salmon and other coldwater fatty fish; these help maintain a healthy heart and circulatory system. Diets rich in EPA may also help lower harmful homocysteine levels to improve bone and heart health, and support a healthy immune system. DHA is another long-chain fatty acid that may help maintain a healthy mood, mind and memory. It is essential for our nervous systems and brain development. Further, DHA plays an especially crucial role in supporting healthy fetal and infant brain development. In fact, DHA is often recommended by doctors for pregnant and lactating women and is an important component of mother’s milk.

Fresh Catch provides 2,400 mg of purified fish oil concentrate, and 720 mg of EPA and 480 mg of DHA per serving. This is the same dose range used in many studies on omega-3 fish oils.

Fresh Catch Fish Oil is also molecularly distilled to remove organochlorine contaminants found in less pure products, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, and heavy metals like lead and mercury. This process further serves to reduce oxidation of the oil, thus assuring that Fresh Catch remains fresh, pure and without any fishy aftertaste.

References

Hardman, W.E. “(n-3) fatty acids and cancer therapy.” Journal of Nutrition, 2004;134(12 Suppl):3427S-3430S.

Maillard, V., et al. “N-3 and N-6 fatty acids in breast adipose tissue and relative risk of breast cancer in a case-control study in Tours, France.” Int J Cancer, 2002;98(1):78-83.

Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.