UCLA scientists have shown that lowering your intake of omega-6 fatty acids, or the polyunsaturated fat often consumed in excessive amounts as part of the typical Western diet, may help prevent prostate cancer. This preliminary finding is the first of its kind, the researchers said.
Researchers fed a group of mice a diet containing about 40% of calories coming from polyunsaturated fats, a percentage typical of men eating a Western diet. Another group received 12% of their calories from fat, a figure considered to be respresentative of a very low-fat diet. They found that there was a 27% reduced incidence of prostate cancer in the low-fat diet group. In addition, researchers studied prostate cells that were precancerous, or would soon become cancer cells, and found that the cells in the mice eating the low-fat diet were growing much more slowly than those in the high-fat group.
William Aronson, the study’s senior author, is now conducting a short-term study in men who are randomly assigned to a Western diet higher in polyunsaturated fat or a lower-fat diet combined with fish oil supplements. The next step is to see how these diets affect malignant and benign human prostate tissue, he says.
According to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in the diet of early humans was 1:1, but the ratio in the typical Western diet is now almost 10:1 due to increased use of vegetable oils and declining fish consumption. By increasing dietary omega-3 fatty acids a number of health benefits may occur—including a possible decrease in prostate cancer.
The Anti-Aging Bottom Line: Try to limit the fat in your diet to healthy fats from foods like fish, olive oil, avocados, nuts and seeds. Take an omega-3 supplement each day to help balance out your omega-3:omega-6 ratio. This is especially important if you have trouble staying away from foods that are sources of high levels of omega-6 fats—including high-fat dairy products and the corn, soy and cottonseed oils commonly used in fried and highly-proccessed foods.
QUICK TIP: According to Jean Carper, pomegranate juice may slow the proliferation of prostate cancer cells. Learn More
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Written exclusively for Stop Aging Now, the authority on anti-aging research, anti-aging nutrition, and anti-aging supplements.
