Supplements & functional ingredients
Ye’s team set out to find out whether the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 was relevant to cancer risk.
found that both omega-3 and omega-6 were linked with a lower cancer risk overall.
“If you compare individuals that have high omega-3 levels versus those who have low omega-3 levels, there’s about a 10–15% reduction in the risk of developing any type of cancer,” says Dr Kaixiong ‘Calvin’ Ye, associate professor in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and corresponding author of the study. “The number is similar for omega-6. If you look at specific sub-types of cancer, the risk reduction is similar, between 5% and 15%.” His team used data from the UK Biobank study, a huge prospective study that has tracked about half a million participants since 2006. Some of the participants had plasma samples taken at the start of the study period, meaning it was possible to measure how much omega-3 and omega-6 was circulating in their blood. These participants were tracked for an average of 12.9 years. During that time, 29,838 of the 253,138 eligible participants developed cancer. As Ye explains, using this data pool had two main advantages. Firstly, the sample size is extremely large, conferring a good amount of confidence in the results. Secondly, blood levels of omega fatty acids are a good proxy for that person’s actual intake.
“A lot of the existing studies have a small sample size, and they look at dietary intake,” he points out. “Usually, you ask people what they eat using a questionnaire, and then we infer how much omega-3 that contains, which is far less accurate.”
Bringing down cancer rates When they looked at specific cancer types, the researchers found that participants with higher levels of omega-3s were at lower risk of lung cancer, as well as cancers of the colon, stomach and other parts of the digestive tract. People with higher levels of omega-6 had lower rates of 14 different cancers, including brain, thyroid, bladder and malignant melanoma.
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Only one cancer type bucked the overall trend. Perhaps surprisingly, the men with higher omega-3 levels had a 3% higher risk of prostate cancer. Ye thinks the jury’s out on whether this finding holds weight. “At the moment, [what] we don’t actually know is if omega-3 is good or bad in terms of prostate cancer? It’s something that needs more research,” he says. Taken together, the studies in this field are far from conclusive. Some researchers think omega-3 could in fact be protective. For instance, a recent clinical trial led by UCLA Health recruited men with early-stage prostate cancer and supported them to eat a diet low in omega-6 and high in omega-3, coupled with fish oil supplements. The diet significantly slowed the growth rate of prostate cancer cells. Another surprising finding from Ye’s research was the outsize role played by omega-6 in reducing cancer risk. It appears that omega-6 may be more protective against cancer than omega-3, which is not a finding borne out by the existing literature.
“Fourteen out of the 19 cancer subtypes have an inverse association with omega-6, compared to just five for omega-3,” says Ye. “There’s a general idea that omega-6 is something bad compared to omega-3, but actually we saw a more significant association here.” Looking to probe these findings further, the researchers conducted a follow-up analysis that
Astaxanthin: antioxidants sourced from the sea
Astaxanthin is a naturally occurring dark red carotenoid primarily found in aquatic animals, including salmon, trout, krill, shrimp, crayfish, crustaceans and microalgae. It stands out as one of the most potent lipophilic antioxidants, exhibiting a remarkable antioxidant strength that surpasses vitamin E by a factor of 500. In comparison with other carotenoids like lutein, lycopene and beta- carotene, astaxanthin proves to be even more robust. Extensive research has demonstrated the numerous benefits of natural astaxanthin. Its consumption has been linked to a reduced risk of certain chronic diseases, enhanced cardiovascular health, increased muscle strength, relief from joint pain, anti-inflammatory properties, immune system stimulation and the promotion of healthy skin.
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