Thread: studies show CLA is helpful but ALA (flax oil) as cancerous

The women in my life have been trying to shovel flax seed at me ... I've resisted. Thanks for the post ... good stuff.

Originally Posted by thisiswut

New studies show CLA as helpful:
http://www.nutraingredients.com/news...-cla-to-combat

http://carcin.oxfordjournals.org/cgi...ract/25/7/1185


ALA (particularly flaxseed oil) linked to prostate cancer:


http://www.yourhealthbase.com/prostate_cancer.html

ALA in minimal amounts is ok, but flaxseed oil really pushes those limits!
ALA appears naturally in many foods, but flaxseed oil has way to much ALA to be heartily recommended.

have you read the entire study? They don't mention flax seed oil in it.

In fact, the study is a survey, and they go on to say that the men who developed prostate cancer also smoked, and did not exercise and it was indicated that they were getting the ALA from sources like beef, lamb, pork, mayo and other creamy salad dressings. They weren't exaclty downing flax seed oil....Quote from the study:

The most likely explanations for these findings are that most foods contribute only a fraction to overall ALA intake and that overall ALA intake rather than intake of any particular food item may be the main determinant of risk.

I will give you that flax (ala) is not the best way to get the omega-3, as it still needs to convert to EPA and DHA, both of which are very beneficial.....another quote from the study:

A high intake of EPA + DHA was associated or suggestively associated with a decreased risk of total and advanced prostate cancer. This finding is largely consistent with the findings of a recent analysis of fish consumption from our cohort (12), another prospective study (36), and 6 case-control studies (25, 37-41) that found decreased prostate cancer risk associated with high intakes of fish or marine n–3 fatty acids, all but one (41) of which were statistically significant.........Our results for fish-oil supplement use were weaker than those for EPA + DHA from diet and supplements combined, which suggests that fish may contain additional protective agents not contained in fish-oil supplements, such as vitamin D and retinol.

what is a better source of fat to put in my breakfast shake? whole ground flax seed or NATTY PB

Originally Posted by dontsurfonmytur

what is a better source of fat to put in my breakfast shake? whole ground flax seed or NATTY PB

If you're asking based on taste....NATTY all the way. Ground flax will give you a considerable amount of fiber. Most diets usually fall shorter on fiber than fat. So for health considerations, I'd say ground flax....though I prefer it on a salad.

K so I don't get your concern with Omega 3's, are you trying to get us to help you with a university paper?

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

K so I don't get your concern with Omega 3's, are you trying to get us to help you with a university paper?

yea, that is what I'd like to know. Every post you make is about omega 3, and despite all the positive benefits that come from it, you are trying to black list it for some reason. Are you doing research for a class or something?

Originally Posted by P-funk

I will give you that flax (ala) is not the best way to get the omega-3, as it still needs to convert to EPA and DHA, both of which are very beneficial.....another quote from the study:

Yes, I agree. I currently have no issues with DHA or CLA. I'm just trying to learn more about them. By learning more about them, I'm trying to go into history and study populations to see if they had adequate amounts of DHA in their diets by todays standards, and I'm concerned if there is a difference in todays standards of a recommened daily intake. Who is making todays standards? In Canada, their daily food guide produced by goverment researchers is really a joke. In the sense that what was once considered fact (high carbs, low fat, low protein) in the eighties is now not appropriate.

In the same light, I'm concerned about validity and health of getting the "adequate amounts of omega 3's" from sources high in ALA.
I'm just trying to point out Flaxseed Oil with has an unaturally high concentrations of ALA that can prove to be problematic for the male population and is linked with prostate cancer.

Here is a quote:

"Flaxseed oil pills have high concentration of alpha-linolenic acids, which are linked to prostate cancer
Although still controversial, high intake of alpha-linolenic acids has been linked to higher risk of prostate cancer."
Source : http://www.healthcastle.com/flaxseed...xseedoil.shtml

Edit: Yes i am aware they are talking about flax oil.
I will post some more studies up.

Originally Posted by thisiswut

Yes, I agree. I currently have not issue with DHA or CLA. I'm just trying to learn more about them.

However ALA with has unaturally high concentrations of ALA can prove to be problematic.

Here is a quote:

"Flaxseed oil pills have high concentration of alpha-linolenic acids, which are linked to prostate cancer
Although still controversial, high intake of alpha-linolenic acids has been linked to higher risk of prostate cancer."
Source : http://www.healthcastle.com/flaxseed...xseedoil.shtml

again,

1) they are talking about flax pills (not FLAX SEEDS)

2) they then go on to talk about the benefits of flax seeds

3) then they don't cite a source

4) they also say that they have no idea how much is to much.....again, go back to the study you referenced before (that you didn't even read), and they say that the sources of ALA in teh men's diet came from various foods....and it wasn't plant sources of ALA, it was combinations of meat.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...=pubmed_docsum

A prospective study of dietary alpha-linolenic acid and the risk of prostate cancer (United States).

• Koralek DO,
• Peters U,
• Andriole G,
• Reding D,
• Kirsh V,
• Subar A,
• Schatzkin A,
• Hayes R,
• Leitzmann MF.

Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD, USA. dkoralek@unc.edu
BACKGROUND: Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is the most common omega-3 fatty acid in the Western diet. The relation of dietary intake of ALA to prostate cancer risk remains unresolved. OBJECTIVE: We prospectively evaluated total ALA and ALA from specific food sources including animal, fish, and plant sources in relation to prostate cancer risk. DESIGN: A cohort of 29,592 male participants (age 55-74 years) in the screening arm of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial was followed for an average of 5.1 years. RESULTS: We ascertained 1,898 cases of total prostate cancer, of which 1,631 were organ-confined cases (stage T1b to T3a and N0M0) and 285 were advanced stage cases (stage>or=T3b, N1, or M1). We found no association between total ALA intake and overall prostate cancer (multivariate RR comparing extreme quintiles=0.94; 95% CI=0.81-1.09; P for trend=0.76). The corresponding RRs for organ-confined and advanced prostate cancer were 0.94 (95% CI=0.80-1.10; P for trend=0.80) and 0.83 (95% CI=0.58-1.19; P for trend=0.34), respectively. In addition, no relations were observed between ALA intake from any specific food source and the risks of total, organ-confined, or advanced prostate cancer. ALA intake also showed no association with low grade (Gleason sum<7; 1,221 cases) tumors (P for trend=0.23) or high grade (Gleason sum>or=7; n=677 cases) tumors (P for trend=0.26). CONCLUSIONS: In this prospective study of predominantly Caucasian men who were screened annually for newly incident prostate cancer, dietary intake of total ALA and ALA from specific food sources was not associated with risk of total prostate cancer or prostate tumors that were defined by stage and grade.
PMID: 16783606 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Everything I have read has no concrete evidence that ALA affects prostate cancer. They are just making assumptions based on the higher amounts of ALA in prostate tissue

"Nutrition Journal published an analysis of nutrition and cancer. One meta-analysis included in that publication reviewed nine studies that revealed an association between flaxseed oil intake or high blood levels of alpha-linolenic acid and increased risk of prostate cancer"

Source : http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA400051

Originally Posted by thisiswut

"Nutrition Journal published an analysis of nutrition and cancer. One meta-analysis included in that publication reviewed nine studies that revealed an association between flaxseed oil intake or high blood levels of alpha-linolenic acid and increased risk of prostate cancer"

Source : http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA400051

Again this isn't any solid evidence. That is like saying people who eat read meat have a higher incidence of heart attacks.

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

Again this isn't any solid evidence. That is like saying people who eat read meat have a higher incidence of heart attacks.

Okay, but couldn't you say if you eat lots of fatty red meat, filled with saturated fat, there is more likely hood that you would be more vulnerable to heart attacks?