Reducing breast cancer risk by nearly a third could be as easy as supplementing your diet with fish oil, new research finds.
Chock full of essential fatty acids EPA and DHA, and Omega-3, fish oil, in food or capsule-form, is often credited with bolstering heart health and brain function, but a new report from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center suggests that when taken directly as a supplement, this powerhouse oil may have another trick up its sleeve: cancer prevention. (See our Omega 3-6-9 formula)
Researchers questioned over 35,000 postmenopausal women on their use of 15 different supplements — fish oil included — and followed these women over the next six years.
Over that time, 880 women were diagnosed with breast cancer . While most of the supplements seemed to have no effect on breast cancer risk, those women who reported current use of fish oil supplements were less likely to develop invasive ductal breast cancer, the most common type of the disease.
Beyond fish oil’s role in breast cancer prevention, White and colleagues also found a connection between fish oil supplements and a lowered risk of colorectal cancer.
Why might fish oil supplements be having this effect?
Fish oil is naturally anti-inflammatory, and some research suggests that prolonged inflammation may increase the risk of cells becoming cancerous.
“Anti-inflammatory supplements reduce the events within a cell that lead to inflammation,” White says. “Specifically, by reducing inflammation, they reduce cell turnover.”
Reducing this turnover is important because the more cells replicate, the higher the chance is that they will accumulate genetic errors — a precursor to a cell becoming cancerous.
Thus, it is possible that reducing inflammation can lower the risk of cells becoming cancerous, White notes, though this is not yet proven.
