SHOCK HORROR! Fish oil causes CANCER?

Santalum

What a load of bollocks! The establishment mobilizing against the fish trade to protect global stocks? Why do they have to peddle lies? I'm sure if they just came out and said, look we have to curtail trade or else there won't be any wild fish in the future, the average person would behave differently. Even APers would respond by reducing their dependence on fish meal laden feeds?

Hold The Salmon: Omega-3 Fatty Acids Linked to Higher Risk of Cancer
By Claire Groden July 11, 2013
TIME MAGAZINE, JULY 2013

What’s good for the heart may not be so healthy for other organs, says the latest study that links omega-3 fatty acids to an elevated risk of prostate cancer. ... The latest research found that the association between omega-3s and prostate cancer held for both high- and low-grade prostate cancers.

RupertofOZ

I'm dubious as to the research...

The Japanese have had a high fish/omega-3 diet for centuries... and the prostate cancer levels in the population are some of the lowest of any human race....

mattyoga

Could have something to do with taking fish oil condensed down into capsules rather than just eating fish - Not a big fan of refining products down like that.

If you want fish oil - eat fish. If you want Calcium eat leafy greens....

Journeyman

mattyoga wrote:

Could have something to do with taking fish oil condensed down into capsules rather than just eating fish - Not a big fan of refining products down like that.

If you want fish oil - eat fish. If you want Calcium eat leafy greens....

^^^ What he said... in spades!

Too many people have lives of crap food and think they can fix it by popping vitamins.

I'd like to have a look at the 'research' they are using. Many of these so-called 'study' reports are from computer 'research' where data is cherry-picked, data is ignored, and very specific questions are asked of the models that reduce any possibility of getting 'Inconvenient' conclusions.

EDIT: And this is why I no longer have a Scientific American subscription...

Quote:

The study measured omega-3 blood levels in the participating men, and did not include information on the volunteers’ eating habits, so researchers could not differentiate between the effects of fatty acids from fish from those of supplements. However, the overwhelming majority of the participants did not take fish oil supplements. Based on the results, Brasky says that men with a family history of prostate cancer should discuss with their doctor whether fish oil supplements are safe for them, since these pills tend to contain concentrated doses of omega-3 — supplements contain between 30% to 60% of a serving of fish, and if a fish oil supplement is taken everyday, that adds up to a lot of daily fish oil. Brasky also suggested that men cut down on their fatty fish intake, though not eliminate it entirely.

Andrew Vickers, a statistician specializing in prostate cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, agrees, saying that fish oil supplements may pose a relatively higher risk for prostate cancer than fish in the diet. “The problem comes when you take components of a diet and put it in a pill,” Vickers says.While the omega-3 fatty acids may increase oxidative damage to prostate cells, for example, anti-oxidants, which might be part of an overall healthy diet that includes fish as well as fruits and vegetables, might counteract these effects. Because the study did not query the men about their diets, it’s difficult to tell whether the men were consuming other healthy foods as well.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2013/07/11/h ... z2YoF79SiA

Note the overwhelming majority re not taking supplements followed by following statements and next paragraph where supplements are targetted.

Anyone else see any contradictions in those 2 paragraphs?

I wonder if it has anything to do with the research asst. prof AND the statistician involved being employed by Cancer Centers?

Colour me sceptical...

Yavimaya

mattyoga wrote:

Could have something to do with taking fish oil condensed down into capsules rather than just eating fish - Not a big fan of refining products down like that.

If you want fish oil - eat fish. If you want Calcium eat leafy greens....

This.

Journeyman

@Yavimaya - or maybe look at the actual study and realise it is a heap of crap - within its own text!

Note that most people using supplements do so because the rhetoric has convinced them (rightly so given the analyses of vegetables from 50 years back compared to now) that their lifestyle of junk food has exposed them to risk.

So... what is more likely to increase prostate cancer...? The taking of fish oil? (even in supplements as NOT determined by the study) Or the lifestyle (read diet as NOT ascertained by either study) choices made by people who think they should take vitamins to counter their lack of healthy choices?

The (sic) study, (both of them) is a heap of frog shit designed to increase the exposure of the 'cancer centres' who paid for the studies.

Bad Science... yet again...

SueW

If the study was done with grocery store type vitamins/supplements which are usually synthetic and not real vitamins/supplements I can see it otherwise it is hogwash .

bigbrudda84

HUFAs in coldwater fish have been linked to health benefits (EHA and DHA).

The problem relates to the high oxidation potential of HUFAs (highly unsaturated fatty acids). This results in free radical formation. Free radicals are associated with...

One solution might be to take an anti-oxidant with your fish oil (e.g. vitamin E).

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SHOCK HORROR! Fish oil causes CANCER?

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