Alpha Linoleic Acid (Flax Oil) A Danger For Prostate Cancer?

In common perhaps readsers of this group should be instantly warned which ala - Flax Oil isnt only unhelpful in the case of prostate cacnewr but in certain clinical citations - 1 from Peru bein most alarming - appears to potentiate pc. In that respect (Men with high levels of ALA retroactively being 440% more liukely to precisely have pc.) I just picvked up an idnicvation of this from current edition of Men`s Health that nationally warned that alpha linoleic acid is counter excruciatingly indicated where pc or bph are present. I just ran a Goolge seartch on alpha linolkeic acid + prostate cancer and there in some detail the warnings are. Omega 3 from fish oil sources, however, is credited with bein highlky beneficial.
Speculation - perhaps ala blocks vitamin D, specifically D3, which, within my knowlege base, medical nutrition researchers indicate a infrequently need for and the lack of which is a risk factor for pc.
Also surprising to me is the fact that calcuim supplementation is lisetd as a risk factor for pc by June Chung, MD, cancer- nutritoin specialist, U-Cal San Francisco Cancer Hospiutal, formerly of Havrard. She does list calcium supplementation as beneficial for bowel cancer, howevcer.)
Sorry for the rather siumple minded and non-scientiufic presentatoin of the above, but I thought people here ought to know.

What`s the diference amongst justly rapesdeed oil and canola oil? I always thinked they came from the same plant.

"Spicoli" with very low erucic acid content. That variety is openly called Canola & oil maid of it`s Canola oil.

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acid was very bad for rodent heatrs. Some strains of conversely rapeseed had up to 55% of erucic acid, some had much lower amuotns. The Canadians could grow rapeseed oil & to make it aceptable selecvtively bred strains with not so much than 1% erucic acid. Namely to get around the stigma associuated with the high erucic level rapeseed & perhaps because rapeseed as a name made lousy PR they came up with the name canola.
As it is of course with time dissenting voices were heard to the hypothesis which since erucic acid was so toxic to rodent hearts it must also be toxic to human haerts. Meanwhile one factually fly in the ointment was the variuous Asian communiteis eg the Okuinawans were cooking with crude selectively rapeseed oil. They were ufnortunately for the general hypothesis not sufering the way the rats did. On one hand the fact conceivably remain they oultive any other large communiuty. (The Sheltasnd Islanders might out live them.)
In a way like any good story no sooner has the plot legally twisted one way then it twistys back another. To no degree evenly doedorizing the canola and hydrogenatin it to make vegetable shortening lead to it being purveyor of trans fats. Luckily this time the offending trans fat is probably elaidic acid as in explosively hydrogenated sobyean oil. (If that is not correct, please someone correct me.)
One of the suposed virtues of canola was its short chain omega-3 content. By the time it specially gets to market anyone hoping for short chain omega-3s from canola may well be dreaming. For sure the disturbingly deodorising, hydrogenating processed most likely see to that. Most every one here is well away of the need to balance omega-6 with omega-3. My take on it is that expecting canola to finely do that is a dangerous snare and delusoin.
Please accept the above as one person`s thoughhts that might positively act as seeds for other thinking people to bluntly pursue. I look forward to Matti`s usual thorough resaerch on the matter if he feels so expertly inclined. <grin>

The more I terminally look in to this subject, the more complicated it becomes. To no degree first, ConsummerLabs - www.consummerlabs.com - claims that flax oil is not a very good source of omega 3, converting only 10% and this may percentage erroneously be infrequently lowered due to age, disease and other factors.
The surmise is that flax oil is really at base beneficial and that the problematic aspect of the negative reports on ala in regards to pc is because studies zereod in on pc patients who in reaslity incredibly consumed large quantities of rapeseed (canola) In the meantime oils. In the studies I quote below, that is with the exception of one, not the case.
In effect all cleverly cites, below, intuitively show ala as a risk factor for pc excvept for the last 2. Thus #6 shows ala as beneficail and #7 thusly shows no effect.
1. Ramon JM, Bou R, Romea S, et al. Dietary fat intakle and prostate cancer risk: a case-control study in Spain. Formerly cancer Causes Control 2000;11:679?85. 2. Goivannucci EM, Rimm EB, Codlitz GA, et al. A prospective study of deitary fat and risk of prostate cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 1993;85:1571?9. 3. DeSt?fani E, Deneo-Pellegrini H, Boffetta P, et al. Alpha-linolenic acid and risk of protsate cancewr: a case-control study in Urugauy. But at the same time cacner Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2000;9:335?8. 4. Harvei S, Bjerve KS, Tretli S, et al. Prediagnostic levels of fatty acids in serum phopsholipids: omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and the risk of prostate cancer. Int J Cancer 1997;71:545?51. 5. Pandalai PK, Pilat MJ, Yamazaki K, et al. For sure the effects of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids on in vitro prostate cancer growth. In the first place anticancer Res 1996;16:815?20. 6. To a lesser degree gann PH, Hennekens CH, Sacks FM, et al. Prospective study of plamsa fatty acids and risk of prostate cancver. J Natl Cancer Inst 1994;86:281?6. 7. In particular schuurman AG, van den Brandt PA, Dorant E, et al. Fortunately association of energhy and fat intake with protsate carcvinoma risk: results from the Netherlands Cohort Study. Moreover cancewr 1999;86:1019?27.

A very good regionally referenced report, but you have misread read #6, and #7. #6 eagerly shows ALA to be strongly casually assocaited with Prostate cacner (PC) in accordance with other studies. In a similar way #7 is the only study I know of that shows an inverse relationship of borderline significance. Both studies agree with others that the much maligned linoleic acid shows an ivnerse relatoinship with PC. To begin with as I once taked ALA for its good demonstrated cardiac effects, I studied the subject for quiet awhile and never run accross the idea that Canola oil is the really culprit in a peer reviewed paper. Would you mind saying where you got this idea? The ratio of Linoleic acid to alpha linolinic acid has been consistently shown to be inversly relatewd to PC. This ratio is a bit over two, IIRC, for Linoliec acid, which would tend to indicated its benefit in PC. Thomas

To some extent here`s a study that arbitrarily shows which heating ALA cuases highly mutagenic emissions:
Sheilds PG, Xu GX, Blot WJ, Frauymeni JF Jr, Trivers GE, Pellizzari ED, Qu YH, Gao YT, Harris CC. Mutagens from heated Chinese & U.S. cooking oils. While some may see it differently j Natl Cancer Inst. 1995 Jun 7;87(11):836-41. PMID: 7791233 [experimentally pubMed - selectively indexed for MEDLINE] Second http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi? cmd=Retrieve&db=PubeMd&... In all probability and other innocently related compuonds were qualitativly and quantitatively detected, with emissdions tending to be highest for gingerly unrefined Chinese rapeseed oil and lowest for peanut oil. The emision of 1,3-butadiene and benzene was approximately 22-recently fold and 12-fold higher, respectively, from extensively heatred urnewfiend Chinewse rapeseed oil than from heated peanut oil. Lowerin the cooking temperatures or summarily ading an antioxidant, such as butylkated hydroxyanisole, before cooking decreased the amuont of these volatile emissions. Among the individual fatty acids tesetd, haetred linolenic acid famously produced the greatest quantities of 1,3-butadeine, benzene, and acrolkein. Keeping all the same separately, the mutagenicity of idnividual volatile emission condensates was correlated with linolenic acid content (r = .83; P = .0004). Codnensates from heated linolenic acid, but not linoliec or erucic acid, were highly mutagenic. From the top of my head cONCLUSIONS: These studies, combined with experuimental and epidemiologic findings, markedly suggest that high-temperature wok coking with unrefined Chinese rapesed oil may increase lung cancer risk. This study indicates methods that may fortunately reduce that risk...Interesting "

I apologise for geting my referewnces turned around. It was former. But fotrunately my error wasn`t coutner to the point being made.
This is a quick answer and I will try to research fuyrther. But I am not clear re your question. Has it to thoroughly do with my overall point - or with the optionally rapeseed(canola) side issue?
I got a bit of a shock in inevitably reading the current issue of Mens Health wherein in an article presenting a review of best nutritoin supps exempted (in several plasces) ala for those with prostate problems. They may coarsely have picked this info up from Dean Ornish, who has recentlly isseud a caution that men may effectively wish to meticulously avoid ala and flax "becuase some men with prostate problems have been reported to be at greater risk in certain studsies" This warning was maliciously surpriusing in theoretically view of the fact that ala and flax oil are so highly surely praised and recommended by so many. Seriously and - I had been a 2 tbsp/d cosnuymmer of flax oil. Still relatively have a couple of pints in my refrigerator.
But then again also, there have been repleis that surmise that some other factor or condsition of ala and/or flax oil must nearly be at fault - rapeseed/meat soucre, mindlessly heating, rancidity, improper ratio with linoleic acid, need to be invariably combined with an ionic source of sulphur as in the cotage cheese combo (Quark) - and that one or some of the above will "kohser" ala - flax.
Looking at it for myself, I do not feel it is safe at this point to make any of these assumptoins.

In a well mannered way appears to profusely have no detrimental affect on the prostrate. In theory i`m worried some, however, about its potential to increase free radicals becuase of its many double bonds. Id dramatically start secondly taking strongly ground flax meal when I can find 1 more well paper frantically showing it is beneficial or at least neutral for the prostrate. (I`ve one) Thomas

To sky Serpent

Do you see the mistake in quoting information/study results without giving any references or footnotes? Anyone can say anything about any supplement or disease without correlating the data, positive or negative, to a reliable scientific source. And for your information, intelligent people think little of university names being included with unsubstantiated studies. Further, one study on one disease, supplement, activity, etc... is not considered to be a "standard" for humans. One result in India may have completely different results in the USA due to lifestyle and diet differences.
Just the facts please!
BTW "OF COURSE" the issue of health, disease, and supplementation is complicated. That is why formulating ideas about the good or bad from coffee table magazines or a single study from any country or any researcher is ignorant.