Something Fishy About Fish Oil? Probably Not

I take a lot of supplements. I'm cutting back drastically. But I still take something like 30 a day. In the essential oils category, I've been taking, a the recommendation of my doctor, two different kinds. I take 3 omega fatty acid softgels-- Udo's 3-6-9 Blend-- made from flax, sesame, sunflower, coconut, & evening primrose. And I've been taking two EPA-DHA 720 softgells made by Metagenics and made from sardine, anchovy and mackerel oil. My doctor says it's the best on the market. Then a few days ago, in the NY Times I read that this kind of fish oil may cause prostate cancer. I was confused. My doctor told me to start taking it because of prostate cancer. I decided, as a preliminary step-- and in line with my new cutting back drastically approach-- to only take one a day instead of two. There so expensive too, so I save some real money.

Then, this week I got an e-mail from Advanced Bionutritionals, a very reputable company, warning that the warning from the Times doesn't amount to much.

You may have seen the report that came out last week about fish oil raising your risk of prostate cancer. After all the positive news about fish oil we’ve seen in recent years, this report may come as a surprise. So what should you do about fish oil? Continue taking it-- or stop?

There is growing concern that overdosing on fish oil can be unhealthy. My good friend and colleague, Robert Rowen, MD, was the first to put forth the controversial idea that fish oil isn’t the panacea everyone thinks it is. So does this study confirm Dr. Rowen’s position? I don’t think it does.

Let’s look at the study. The researchers conducting this study did not set out to examine the effects of fish oil on prostate cancer. The results came out of a study on selenium and vitamin E. They started out by looking at 834 men with diagnosed prostate cancer. Of these, 156 had high grade cases. The researchers compared this group to another 1,393 men they randomly selected but matched to age and race.

They found that men in the highest quartile of fish oil consumption had a 44% increased risk of low-grade prostate cancer, a 71% increased risk of high-grade prostate cancer, and a 43% overall increased risk for any prostate cancer. Sounds very convincing. Here are the problems:

• This was an associative study only. The study was actually on vitamin E and selenium. The researchers did not set out to study cause and effect of fish oil consumption. That means their results are suspect as to the controls they used.
• There is no evidence that the participants actually took fish oil supplements.
• The test subjects were at higher risk for prostate cancer. Many of their doctors had told them to increase their EPA and DHA levels.
• They measured plasma amounts of fatty acids. Those readings will fluctuate with the last meal they consumed. A single fish oil dose results in a 100% increase in plasma omega-3 levels. A better indicator is the red blood cell level of fatty acids. That measures consumption over the past four to six weeks.
• The difference in the plasma fatty acid levels in the prostate cancer group versus the non-prostate cancer group was .2% (4.66% in the combined cancer group versus 4.48% in the control). That's virtually no difference.
• If you look at the data, it appears that non-smokers had more aggressive prostate cancer and that non-drinkers were at a higher risk for prostate cancer. So should you start smoking and drink more? Of course not! It just shows the major flaws in this study.

Other studies-- and these were studies specifically designed to show the impact of fish oil on prostate cancer-- have found just the opposite effect. In fact, many studies have found that fish oil prevents prostate cancer.

One thing that is fairly consistent in all the reports: Tainted, altered, or rancid oils almost always contribute to health problems. Add salt, smoke (as in smoked fish), oxidation, or any other alteration, and the fish oil ceases to be healthy.

Dr. Rowen brings up an important question in his observations. That question is whether you can take too much fish oil or not. The simple answer is-- of course you can. You can overdose on just about anything. The harder answer is knowing where that line falls with fish oil. Most studies show that eating fish is healthy. Even Dr. Rowen, a devout vegetarian, concedes that fish is good for you if it comes from cold, non-contaminated, non-farmed waters. That means trout and salmon for most of us.

We also know that omega-3 fatty acids are good for you. The problem comes when we overload our body with them. If you’re taking fish oil, consider how much flaxseed, fish, and other omega-3 sources you’re eating on a regular basis. If you’re eating enough of these, then you may not need a supplement (remember, supplements are what you add to your diet to make up for a deficiency).

This whole thing has stirred up a lot of controversy and even Hate Talk Radio host and right-wing psychotic Michael Savage has jumped into the fray! Academic condemnation of the study from leading prostate cancer experts has been overwhelming-- and nearly unanimous. Savage considers himself an "expert" and he did interview a real expert, Anthony D'Amico, professor of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School and chief of Genitourinary Radiation Oncology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer institute. Savage's intro: "There is a very, very dangerous report out there, that many of you have panicked over, about fish oils and what happened was, the idiots in the media immediately jumped on this assistant professor's opinion that fish oil is somehow related to prostate cancer risk, which nothing could be further from the truth... it's junk science."

Professor D'Amico was a little more restrained in his comments but came to a similar conclusion: "I don't want to knock the guy that wrote it but he is really a kind of lowly assistant professor who I think was looking for some media attention." Oh, you can listen to the whole interview:



I think one a day is enough anyway.