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

[Rob]

Perhaps readers of this group should be warned that ala - Flax
Oil is not only unhelpful in the case of prostate cancer but
in certain clinical citations - one from Peru being most
alarming - appears to potentiate pc. (Men with high levels of
ALA being 440% more likely to have pc.) I just picked up an
indication of this from current edition of Men's Health which
warned that alpha linoleic acid is counter indicated where pc
or bph are present. I just ran a Google search on alpha
linoleic acid + prostate cancer and there in some detail the
warnings are. Omega 3 from fish oil sources, however, is
credited with being highly beneficial.

Speculation - perhaps ala blocks vitamin D, specifically D3,
which, within my knowlege base, medical nutrition
researchers indicate a need for and the lack of which is a
risk factor for pc.

Also surprising to me is the fact that calcium supplementation
is listed as a risk factor for pc by June Chung, MD, cancer-
nutrition specialist, U-Cal San Francisco Cancer Hospital,
formerly of Harvard. She does list calcium supplementation as
beneficial for bowel cancer, however.)

Sorry for the rather simple minded and non-scientific
presentation of the above, but I thought people here
ought to know.

[Matti Nark]

25 Oct 2002 23:17:29 -0700 in article
<14b1cf7d.0210252217.29bcf79c@posting.google.com>
robwid@att.net (rob) wrote:

>Perhaps readers of this group should be warned that ala -
>Flax Oil is not only unhelpful in the case of prostate cancer
>but in certain clinical citations - one from Peru being most
>alarming - appears to potentiate pc. (Men with high levels of
>ALA being 440% more likely to have pc.) I just picked up an
>indication of this from current edition of Men's Health which
>warned that alpha linoleic acid is counter indicated where pc
>or bph are present.

Although I would not use flaxseed oil until more is known
about this matter, I think that blaming flaxseed oil may be a
little premature. I think that practically all ALA which
shows in epidemiological studies has come from other sources
than flaxseed oil. Important sources include meat, rapeseed
oil and canola oil. These food items are almost always heated
when food is prepared. Interestingly heating ALA causes
formation of mutagenic and carcinogenic substances, in this
sense ALA is probably the most dangerous fatty acid in
cooking oils. I wouldn't use any cooking oil with more than
traces of ALA in it.

--
Matti Narkia

[Doe]

>Subject: Alpha Linoleic Acid (Flax Oil) A Danger For Prostate
>Cancer? From: robwid@att.net (rob) Date: 10/26/2002 12:17 AM
>Mountain Daylight Time Message-id:
><14b1cf7d.0210252217.29bcf79c@posting.google.com>

>Omega 3 from fish oil sources, however, is credited with
>being highly beneficial.
>

One mans' treasure is another mans' .. garbage ..

: J Nutr 2002 Aug;132(8):2263-9 Related Articles, Books,
: LinkOut

High dietary iron concentrations enhance the formation of
cholesterol oxidation products in the liver of adult rats fed
salmon oil with minimal effects on antioxidant status.

Brandsch C, Ringseis R, Eder K.

Institute of Nutritional Sciences, Martin-Luther-University of
Halle-Wittenberg, D-06108 Halle/Saale, Germany.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of high
dietary iron concentrations on the antioxidant status of rats
fed two different types of fat. Four groups of male adult
Sprague-Dawley rats were fed diets with adequate (50 mg iron
supplemented per kg diet) or high (500 mg iron supplemented
per kg diet) iron concentrations with either lard or salmon
oil as dietary fat at 100
g/kg for 12 wk. The antioxidant status of the rats was
profoundly influenced by the type of fat. Rats fed salmon
oil diets had higher concentrations of thiobarbituric
acid-reactive substances (TBARS) (P < 0.001), various
cholesterol oxidation products (COP) (P < 0.001), total and
oxidized glutathione (P < 0.05) and a lower concentration of
alpha-tocopherol (P < 0.05) in liver and plasma than rats
fed lard diets. The iron concentration of the diet did not
influence the concentrations of TBARS, the activities of
superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase or the
concentration of alpha-tocopherol in plasma or liver. The
activity of catalase (P < 0.01) and the concentrations of
total, oxidized and reduced glutathione (P < 0.05) in liver
were slightly but significantly higher in rats fed high iron
diets than in rats fed adequate iron diets, irrespective of
the dietary fat. Rats fed the high iron diets with salmon
oil, moreover, had higher concentrations of various COP in
the liver (P < 0.001) than rats fed adequate iron diets with
salmon oil. These results suggest that feeding a high iron
diet does not generally affect the antioxidant status of
rats but enhances the formation of COP, particularly if the
diet is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids.

PMID: 12163673 [PubMed - in process]

--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
------

Who loves ya. Tom



Jesus was a vegetarian! http://jesuswasavegetarian.7h.com









Jesus was a vegetarian! http://www.nucleus.com/watchman Moses
was a mystic! http://www.nucleus.com/watchman/light.html

[Spicoli]

"Matti Narkia" <mnng@despammed.com> wrote in message
news:t4hkrus5ot9n2numlkbik5o26n5bhq37gd@4ax.com...
> 25 Oct 2002 23:17:29 -0700 in article
Important sources include
> meat, rapeseed oil and canola oil. >
>
> --
> Matti Narkia

Matti,

What's the difference between rapeseed oil and canola oil? I
always thought they came from the same plant.

Aloha.

Spicoli

[Matti Nark]

Sat, 26 Oct 2002 19:25:40 GMT in article
<U_Bu9.220114$121.6195504@twister.austin.rr.com> "Spicoli"
<pete@helpmejebus.com> wrote:

>
>"Matti Narkia" <mnng@despammed.com> wrote in message
>news:t4hkrus5ot9n2numlkbik5o26n5bhq37gd@4ax.com...
>> 25 Oct 2002 23:17:29 -0700 in article
> Important sources include
>> meat, rapeseed oil and canola oil. >
>>
>
>What's the difference between rapeseed oil and canola oil? I
>always thought they came from the same plant.
>
Yes, they do, but I think in Canada they bred a special
variety of rapeseed with very low erucic acid content. That
variety is called Canola and oil made of it is Canola oil.

--
Matti Narkia

[Quentin Gr]

This post not CC'd by email On Sat, 26 Oct 2002 19:25:40 GMT,
"Spicoli" <pete@helpmejebus.com> wrote:

>Matti,
>
>What's the difference between rapeseed oil and canola oil? I
>always thought they came from the same plant.
>
>Aloha.
>
>Spicoli

G'day G'day Matti, Spicoli et al,

The rapeseed oil contains high quantities of erucic acid.
Erucic acid was very bad for rodent hearts. Some strains of
rapeseed had up to 55% of erucic acid, some had much lower
amounts. The Canadians could grow rapeseed oil and to make
it acceptable selectively bred strains with less than 1%
erucic acid. To get around the stigma associated with the
high erucic level rapeseed and perhaps because rapeseed as a
name made lousy PR they came up with the name canola.

Of course with time dissenting voices were heard to the
hypothesis that since erucic acid was so toxic to rodent
hearts it must also be toxic to human hearts. One fly in the
ointment was the various Asian communities eg the Okinawans
were cooking with crude rapeseed oil. They were unfortunately
for the general hypothesis not suffering the way the rats did.
The fact remain they outlive any other large community. (The
Shetland Islanders might out live them.)

Like any good story no sooner has the plot twisted one way
then it twists back another. Deodorizing the canola and
hydrogenating it to make vegetable shortening lead to it being
purveyor of trans fats. This time the offending trans fat is
probably elaidic acid as in hydrogenated soybean oil. (If that
is not correct, please someone correct me.)

One of the supposed virtues of canola was its short chain
omega-3 content. By the time it gets to market anyone hoping
for short chain omega-3s from canola may well be dreaming. The
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 do that is a dangerous snare and delusion.

Please accept the above as one person's thoughts that might
act as seeds for other thinking people to pursue. I look
forward to Matti's usual thorough research on the matter if he
feels so inclined. <grin>

Thanks,

--
Quentin Grady ^ ^ / New Zealand, >#,#< [ / \ /\ "... and the
blind dog was leading."

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin

[Peter Fack]

Rob -

right - alpha linoleic acid (Omega 6) is too high in modern
diet. There should be more alpha linolenic acid (Omega 3).
Flax oil has the better (ideal) ratio.

Dr Budwig, the German fatty acids researcher, does not
advocate to use flax oil alone, but to mix it with sulphuric
amino acids,
e.g. in quark/cottage cheese.

So flax oil alone is contra-therapeutic.

Regards

Peter

In article <14b1cf7d.0210252217.29bcf79c@posting.google.com>,
robwid@att.net (rob) wrote:

>Subject: Alpha Linoleic Acid (Flax Oil) A Danger For Prostate
>Cancer? From: robwid@att.net (rob) Organization:
>http://groups.google.com/ Date: 25 Oct 2002 23:17:29 -0700
>Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition
>
>Perhaps readers of this group should be warned that ala -
>Flax Oil is not only unhelpful in the case of prostate cancer
>but in certain clinical citations - one from Peru being most
>alarming - appears to potentiate pc. (Men with high levels of
>ALA being 440% more likely to have pc.) I just picked up an
>indication of this from current edition of Men's Health which
>warned that alpha linoleic acid is counter indicated where pc
>or bph are present. I just ran a Google search on alpha
>linoleic acid + prostate cancer and there in some detail the
>warnings are. Omega 3 from fish oil sources, however, is
>credited with being highly beneficial.
>
>Speculation - perhaps ala blocks vitamin D, specifically D3,
>which, within my knowlege base, medical nutrition
>researchers indicate a need for and the lack of which is a
>risk factor for pc.
>
>Also surprising to me is the fact that calcium
>supplementation is listed as a risk factor for pc by June
>Chung, MD, cancer- nutrition specialist, U-Cal San Francisco
>Cancer Hospital, formerly of Harvard. She does list calcium
>supplementation as beneficial for bowel cancer, however.)
>
>Sorry for the rather simple minded and non-scientific
>presentation of the above, but I thought people here
>ought to know.

[Rob]

PeterFackelmann@gmx.net (Peter Fackelmann) wrote in message
news:<B9E2287396688E4D0@0.0.0.0>...
> Rob -
>
> right - alpha linoleic acid (Omega 6) is too high in modern
> diet. There should be more alpha linolenic acid (Omega 3).
> Flax oil has the better (ideal) ratio.
>
> Dr Budwig, the German fatty acids researcher, does not
> advocate to use flax oil alone, but to mix it with sulphuric
> amino acids,
> e.g. in quark/cottage cheese.
>
> So flax oil alone is contra-therapeutic.
>
> Regards
>
> Peter

Peter -

For myself, I wonder if two negatives make a positive in this
case. What I mean is that not only is ala a negative, but in
recent years dairy - even calcium supplementation - is seen as
a pc risk factor.

Also, I had thought that the Quark combination relied on the
ionic sulphur to assist the body in breaking down the flax oil
so as to produce ala. As for the ratio Omega 6 to Omega 3, I
just don't know that this will of itself turn two risk
facrtors to a positive in the case of pc. I fear that the
Quark combination was put together based on a surmise and
before the otherwise beneficial components were recognized as
pc risk factors.

Health,

Rob

[Sir John]

Another fly in the ointment is that erucic acid is a key
ingredient of the original "Lorenzo's oil" used to
successfully treat children with ALD.

Lorenzo's Oil is a blend of Glycerol Trioleate (GTO C18:1) and
Glycerol Trierucate (GTE C22:1) oils in a 4:1 ratio designed
to inhibit the synthesis of very-long-chain fatty acids. It is
used to treat a specific health condition.
Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a rare inherited metabolic
disorder characterized by the loss of the fatty covering
(myelin sheath) on nerve fibers within the brain and
progressive degeneration of the adrenal gland.

Originally, it was made from a blend of olive and rapeseed
oils. This formulation of Lorenzo's oil consisted of erucic
and oleic acid.

What I find interesting is that erucic acid is considered to
be the worst of rapeseed oil, while oleic acid is considered
to be the best of olive oil.

So, here we see where the toxic ingredient (ie, erucic acid)
of Canola that the Anti-Canola crowd is up in arms against has
great therapeutic value for children with ALD.

Just something to think about.

"Quentin Grady" <quentin@paradise.net.nz> wrote in message
news:0d5mruoagledlnh8vi1ivuinnb6be9rfb6@4ax.com...
> This post not CC'd by email On Sat, 26 Oct 2002 19:25:40
> GMT, "Spicoli" <pete@helpmejebus.com> wrote:
>
> >Matti,
> >
> >What's the difference between rapeseed oil and canola oil?
> >I always
thought
> >they came from the same plant.
> >
> >Aloha.
> >
> >Spicoli
>
> G'day G'day Matti, Spicoli et al,
>
> The rapeseed oil contains high quantities of erucic acid.
> Erucic acid was very bad for rodent hearts. Some strains
> of rapeseed had up to 55% of erucic acid, some had much
> lower amounts. The Canadians could grow rapeseed oil and
> to make it acceptable selectively bred strains with less
> than 1% erucic acid. To get around the stigma associated
> with the high erucic level rapeseed and perhaps because
> rapeseed as a name made lousy PR they came up with the
> name canola.
>
> Of course with time dissenting voices were heard to the
> hypothesis that since erucic acid was so toxic to rodent
> hearts it must also be toxic to human hearts. One fly in
> the ointment was the various Asian communities eg the
> Okinawans were cooking with crude rapeseed oil. They were
> unfortunately for the general hypothesis not suffering
> the way the rats did. The fact remain they outlive any
> other large community. (The Shetland Islanders might out
> live them.)
>
> Like any good story no sooner has the plot twisted one way
> then it twists back another. Deodorizing the canola and
> hydrogenating it to make vegetable shortening lead to it
> being purveyor of trans fats. This time the offending trans
> fat is probably elaidic acid as in hydrogenated soybean oil.
> (If that is not correct, please someone correct me.)
>
> One of the supposed virtues of canola was its short chain
> omega-3 content. By the time it gets to market anyone hoping
> for short chain omega-3s from canola may well be dreaming.
> The 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 do that is a dangerous snare and
> delusion.
>
> Please accept the above as one person's thoughts that might
> act as seeds for other thinking people to pursue. I look
> forward to Matti's usual thorough research on the matter if
> he feels so inclined. <grin>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
> --
> Quentin Grady ^ ^ / New Zealand, >#,#< [ / \ /\ "... and the
> blind dog was leading."
>
> http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin

[Mad McFarq]

The trouble with clinical trials is that highly purified oils
are used. This depletes antioxidants, vitamins etc which may
be critical for a protective effect. Many clinical trials are
so 'unrealistic' as to be meaningless.

The other great danger is the pharmacologically active
placebo. The use of corn, soy or other high omega 6 oils as
placebos has rendered a huge body of scientific research
useless. This includes almost all the clinical trials on
angiostatins. Because the placebo makes the subject sicker it
makes the ineffective drug seem more effective.

"rob" <robwid@att.net> wrote in message
news:14b1cf7d.0210252217.29bcf79c@posting.google.com...
> Perhaps readers of this group should be warned that ala -
> Flax Oil is not only unhelpful in the case of prostate
> cancer but in certain clinical citations - one from Peru
> being most alarming - appears to potentiate pc. (Men with
> high levels of ALA being 440% more likely to have pc.) I
> just picked up an indication of this from current edition of
> Men's Health which warned that alpha linoleic acid is
> counter indicated where pc or bph are present. I just ran a
> Google search on alpha linoleic acid + prostate cancer and
> there in some detail the warnings are. Omega 3 from fish oil
> sources, however, is credited with being highly beneficial.
>
> Speculation - perhaps ala blocks vitamin D, specifically D3,
> which, within my knowlege base, medical nutrition
> researchers indicate a need for and the lack of which is a
> risk factor for pc.
>
> Also surprising to me is the fact that calcium
> supplementation is listed as a risk factor for pc by June
> Chung, MD, cancer- nutrition specialist, U-Cal San Francisco
> Cancer Hospital, formerly of Harvard. She does list calcium
> supplementation as beneficial for bowel cancer, however.)
>
> Sorry for the rather simple minded and non-scientific
> presentation of the above, but I thought people here ought
> to know.