THE BREAST CANCER PREVENTION DIET: BREAST BENEFITS OF OMEGA-3
Fish oils can change the microenvironment of the breast in an astoundingly short, three-month period, quickly blunting the booster effect. By taking 10 grams of fish oils a day, breast cancer survivors at UCLA tripled the amount of omega-3 fatty acids in their breasts. The body stores such an enormous amount of omega-6 fats that it would take at least three years to wash them out of your system. During those three years, you want to protect yourself with omega-3 fatty acids, which will strongly counteract them. Clinical trials are now under way in breast cancer survivors at UCLA based on a wealth of human observation and animal and test-tube data. Women in these trials have tripled the amount of omega-3 fats in their breasts.
Safety
As powerful as the effects of omega-3 fatty acids are, it's also critical to look at them for their safety. At very high doses, omega-3 fatty acids cause bleeding — even bleeding into the brain. You may say, gosh, that's a hell of a risk to take to prevent cancer. The good news is that that dose is many times what you need to take. Thousands of American women at high risk or who are breast cancer survivors now take omega-3s at their doctor's recommendation. Doctors from Sloan-Kettering to UCLA feel comfortable prescribing omega-3s for their patients. If you take blood thinners or have clotting problems, be sure to have your blood-clotting factors measured if you and your doctor opt to try this strategy.
There are two other side effects, diarrhea and smell. Diarrhea affects a minority of women. A good way to avoid this side effect is to go easy, by starting with just a gram a day. Fish oil does smell, if it is of poor quality. Buy high-quality oils and use them quickly to avoid the smell. The longer fish oil capsules sit, the quicker the fish smell and flavor comes back, even if it’s been steam-stripped.
Dose
Patients in the UCLA trial consumed 10 grams of fish oil per day, which translates into 10 fish oil capsules daily. These capsules were taken in a divided dose three times a day: breakfast 3, lunch 3, and dinner 4. The brand used at UCLA is Nature Made vitamins (ProEPA, Mission Hills, CA). Dr. John Glaspy determined that at the 10-gram dose there was no increased tendency to bleed. However, if you have a bleeding disorder, or are taking aspirin or NSAID therapy (Motrin, Advil, ibuprofen) or an anticoagulant, you can ask your doctor to perform a bleeding test called a PTT (partial thromboplastin time) to be certain that fish oils don't increase your risk of bleeding. In one major cancer center, patients were accidentally given a large overdose. While there was no bleeding, women did rapidly gain weight and facial hair. The not-so-funny joke was that they had begun to look like the Eskimo women who gave doctors the idea in the first place. Since 10 grams works and works quickly, there is no need for a higher dose. UCLA adds 800 IU of vitamin E a day to prevent oxidation of the fish oil. Since a recent study showed vitamin E may increase the risk of breast cancer, you'll want to ask your doctor if adding vitamin E to fish oil makes sense. Since capsules are much more palatable than fish oil in liquid form, virtually all clinical trials opt for capsules.
Fish oils are now being recommended as a part of any program of healthy living. If you and your doctor decide against fish oil capsules as part of your breast cancer prevention program, you should still consider ingesting the generally recommended 1- to 2-gram-a-day dose in the foods that you eat. While the U.S. government has not made a recommendation on fish oil ingestion, England has. The British Nutrition Foundation recommends 1.25 grams a day. Practically speaking, it's difficult to get much more than 2 grams a day of fish oils without the use of supplements.
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