Supplements & functional ingredients
That may well suggest people need to up their omega-3 levels. But in Ye’s view, it doesn’t mean that omega-6 is inherently bad. “The thing is, when you take those two components apart and look at omega-6 and omega-3 by themselves, both of them are inversely associated with mortality and cancer risk,” he says. “At the moment, I do not feel that there is a particular need to look at that ratio. I think looking at those two by themselves may be informative enough.”
Learning a thing or two
Ye’s lab is looking to see whether specific populations of people might benefit more from supplementation than others.
examined a slightly different metric. In their original study, they looked at omega-3 or omega-6 levels as a percentage of the total fatty acid levels circulating in the blood. In their new research, they used the absolute concentration of omega-3 or omega-6. With this new methodology, many of the associations
Ye and his team were tracking grew stronger still. Nearly all the cancer subtypes now showed an inverse association with omega-3 or omega-6 levels (for example, high consumption of these fatty acids meant a lower cancer risk). Omega-6 was still more protective on the whole, but omega-3 was very beneficial too and the red flag around prostate cancer disappeared. “The relative amount of omega-3 is associated with a higher risk of developing prostate cancer, but when we do the analysis with the absolute concentration, the association goes away,” notes Ye.
The team also wanted to find out whether the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 was relevant to cancer risk. As a wealth of previous research has found, the balance between the two seems to play a major role in disease development. Consuming too much omega-6 relative to omega-3 is thought to contribute to excess inflammation in the body. This is implicated in chronic diseases ranging from arthritis to Alzheimer’s disease. In our ancestral diets, we tended to consume roughly equal quantities of the two fatty acids (a 1:1 ratio); whereas in modern Western diets the ratio is more like 16:1 in favour of omega-6. That’s because omega-6 is abundant in many seed and vegetable oils, as well as in the ultra-processed foods that contain them. In an earlier study, published in April 2024,
Ye’s team analysed the UK Biobank data to find participants’ omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. Next, they looked at how many people had died during the follow- up period and from what cause. In keeping with the existing research, people with the highest ratios had 26% higher total mortality, including a 31% higher incidence of cardiovascular deaths and a 14% higher incidence of cancer deaths.
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So, what should consumers take from the researchers’ findings? As Ye explains, few of us are deficient in omega-6, but many of us lack omega-3 in our diets. It might, therefore, be wise to consider omega-3 supplementation, as well as incorporating foods high in the fatty acid such as oily fish, flaxseeds and walnuts. In his view, there’s no compelling need to cut down on omega-6. That said, the right kind of intake may vary from one person to the next. In Ye’s own lab, he is looking into the genetics of omega-3 and omega-6 metabolism, to see whether specific populations of people might benefit more from supplementation than others. “We have found over 100 genetic positions that can contribute to omega-3 level in the blood,” he explains. “Those genes can impact how the fatty acid is metabolised and utilised. It would be interesting to provide fish oil supplements to people with different genetic backgrounds and find out whether they have the same effect.”
This would be a helpful addition to the research, as one limitation of the UK Biobank data is a potential lack of genetic diversity. While the participants do represent a good cross section of the UK population, the sample skewed heavily towards European ancestry and white ethnicity. That means the results might not be as applicable to people from different ethnic backgrounds. Ye would also like to find out more about the different population subgroups within his sample. For instance, omega-3 tended to have a stronger effect in older male smokers, while omega-6 was stronger in younger female non-smokers. It isn’t clear why that might be. “There are a lot of research directions you can go in,” remarks Ye. It also isn’t clear why omega-3 and omega-6 might help protect against cancer. Ye’s team have not looked into what the mechanism might be, and he doesn’t feel comfortable speculating. That said, we know that omega-3s have anti-inflammatory effects, and that foods rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids tend to contain many other trace nutrients that are beneficial to health. Obtaining a good balance of these foods is clearly important for optimal functioning. And though there are many questions remaining, this latest study provides compelling evidence that they may also be linked to cancer prevention. ●
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