Thursday, November 26, 2009

Does Taking Fish Oil Tablets Help Prevent Bowel Cancer?

By Peter Bertonach

Fish oil tablets contain DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) which are the 2 most important essential fatty acids known as omega 3 fatty acids. Over the last 40 years many studies have demonstrated the health benefits of increasing our intake of essential fatty acids and these health benefits include benefits to our heart health and have also demonstrated a link between increasing the intake of fish oil and breast cancer prevention and increasing our intake of fish oil and prostate cancer prevention. Studies are also showing that by increasing our intake of Omega3 fats we can help prevent bowel cancer.

A study undertaken in Scotland about the benefits of omega 3 to bowel cancer prevention found that increasing your intake fish oil can reduce your risk of colon cancer by up to 40 percent. These benefits came from an increase in the intake of DHA and EPA, however it was also noted that increasing your intake of ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), a plant-based Omega 3 fat, did not reduce your risk of colorectal cancer.

Clear evidence was that those who ate more fish had a lower risk of colon cancer and that those who ate less fish had a higher risk of colon cancer.

A Dutch study also established, by comparing the results of-- other studies, that one meal of fish every week reduced your risk of bowel cancer by an estimated 4 percent. Therefore if you eat 2 meals of fish each week your risk of bowel cancer reduces by around 8 percent.

Here in the US our average intake of fish is way below what would be needed to help achieve these results in preventing bowel cancer.

Of course increasing your intake of fish oil is only a part of an overall strategy to reduce your risk of bowel cancer, but increasing Omega3 intake also offers a wide range of other health benefits including reducing a range of heart problems including heart attack.

The next question is how to achieve these benefits. In the US we don't generally eat a lot of fish. Fish is extremely expensive and it is only certain types of fish that have high levels of DHA and EPA. Combine that with the fact that most of the fish we eat is contaminated to a degree with mercury and other nasty toxins, and that the FDA advise discretion when eating fish for this reason, and it is fair to say that increasing our intake of fish substantially and weekly will be too expensive and can have other problems.

But there are excellent alternatives. Fish oil tablets are very cost-effective and the best fish oil tablets contain no contaminants and can be taken daily at a much lower cost and without risk of chemical toxins.

However not all all fish oil supplements are as good as others, and you need to be careful comparing one with another because there are wide variations in the amounts of the active ingredients found in the different brands. You cannot directly compare the price of fish oil tablets alone.

So it would seem that the evidence is getting stronger of the health benefits of increasing your intake of Omega3 fats, including in helping to prevent bowel cancer. Clearly all of us should be eating more fish or, more conveniently and more cheaply, taking daily omega 3 supplements by way of fish oil tablets.

I have known this for some time and take fish oil tablets every day. To find out which ones visit my website.

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