Omega-3s for cancer prevention

Omega-3s from fish is better than flaxseed and other oils for cancer prevention, according to a first-ever University of Guelph study. Prof. David Ma has discovered that marine-based omega-3s are eight times more effective at inhibiting tumour development and growth. This study is the first to compare the cancer-fighting potency of plant- versus marine-derived omega-3s on breast tumour development.

There is evidence that both omega-3s from plants and marine sources are protective against cancer and we wanted to determine which form is more effective. There are three types of omega-3 fatty acids : a-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). ALA is plant-based and found in such edible seeds as flaxseed and in oils, such as soy, canola and hemp oil. EPA and DHA are found in marine life, such as fish, algae and phytoplankton.

The study involved feeding the different types of omega-3s to mice with a highly aggressive form of human breast cancer called HER-2. HER-2 affects 25per cent of women and has a poor prognosis. Researchers exposed the mice to either the plant-based or the marine-based omega-3s, beginning in utero. The mice were exposed to the different omega-3s even before tumours developed, which allowed comparing how effective the fatty acids are at prevention.

EPA and DHA can inhibit breast tumour growth, but no one has looked directly at how effective these omega-3s are compared to ALA, exposure to marine-based omega-3s reduced the size of the tumours by 60 to 70 per cent and the number of tumours by 30 per cent. However, higher doses of the plant-based fatty acid were required to deliver the same impact as the marine-based omega-3s.

Omega-3s prevent and fight cancer by turning on genes associated with the immune system and blocking tumour growth pathways. Humans should consume two to three servings of fish a week to have the same effect. Besides certain foods containing EPA and DHA, supplements and functional foods, such as omega-3 eggs or DHA milk, can offer similar cancer prevention effects.
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Fish oil protects vision cells

A component of fish oil not only protects cells critical to vision from potentially lethal initial insults, but also from those that occur in the future. The omega-3 fatty acid, DHA, and its derivatives "precondition" photoreceptor and retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells to survive.

DHA and docosanoids (molecules made in the brain at the onset of injury or disease) are responsible for activating sustained cellular mechanisms that elicit long-term preconditioning protection. A preconditioning PC stimulus is a sub-lethal or pharmacologic stressor that activates a counter-regulatory protective response to a future lethal stimulus. Preconditioning takes place when the blood supply to an organ is interrupted for a short time and then reestablished.

The protective response from that first injury would carry over to a subsequent blood supply shortage, much like the immunity a vaccine confers against future exposures to disease. This happens in the heart, brain and retina, as well as other organs. To harness the therapeutic potential of preconditioning, it is very important to identify the molecules directly involved.

Fish oil contains two types of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) -- omega-3 (docosahexaenoic acid or DHA) and omega-6 (arachidonic acid or AA). They have distinctly different actions. Omega-3 PUFAs and their enzymatic metabolic derivatives, docosanoids, display potent anti-inflammatory and pro-resolving properties in contrast to the pro-inflammatory actions of omega-6 PUFA derivatives. The researchers found that although they are released concomitantly, DHA can alter the action of AA. When they supplemented DHA prior to the oxidative stress insult, the synthesis of protective DHA derivatives increased while AA synthesis decreased over time.

DHA and the induction of docosanoid synthesis is necessary for preconditioning protection, and thus daily survival, of photoreceptor and RPE cells. Omega-3 impairments are associated with neuroinflammation, which contributes to photoreceptor cell dysfunction and death, enhancing the synthesis of docosanoids may provide an opportunity for halting or ameliorating debilitating retinal degenerative diseases, such as the dry form of age-related macular degeneration.
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Low carbohydrates diets can imitate effect of ecstasy on your brain

 Low-carb diet changes your metabolic  from burning more carbohydrates to burning of more fat than carbohydrates, this is a process known as ketosis.

When human body uses up carbohydrates glucose reserves, the body stimulates the breakdown of stored fat into fatty acids and releases them into the blood.

When fatty acids reach the liver they are changed into acetoacetate, a metabolic fuel that belongs to a family of ketones.

Acetoacetate decomposes to carbon dioxide and acetone, low-carbohydrates dieters and people who are fasting usually have sweet smelling breath.

A healthy liver minimises the acetone lost through the lungs by converting most of the acetoacetate it produces to beta-hydroxybutyrate BHB. This can cause euphoric feelings.

During ketosis, BHB can reach high levels in the brain, where it can bind to the same anxiety-reducing receptors as recreational drugs with similar effects.
 Side effects of ketosis are loss of calcium from bones, kidney stones and growth retardation.

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