Fish oil linked to increased risk of colon cancer in mice

Michigan State University ^ | October 5, 2010 | Unknown

[CynicalBear]

>>I’ve been eating food my entire life and haven’t died even once.<<

Maybe it ain’t one day yet? Hah!

[MikeHu]

Actually, that was my first reaction when I tried the fish oil capsules — tremendous digestive upset that discouraged me from continuing that supplementation.

I also had the same reaction to Vitamin D oil capsules — but didn’t have the same problem with the powdered capsules form of it.

I think there is something about the oil that is an irritant — just like in the old days, cod liver and castor oil were used to remedy constipation by inducing diarrhea. It stands to reason that constant supplementation would produce/induce irritable bowel syndrome.

All my life, I was susceptible to gastrointestinal upset, respiratory inflammations, and back pain, but one day attended a presentation by the doctor claiming guaifenesin as the cure for fibromyalgia, which is one of the innumerable autoimmune diseases that all have overlapping symptoms — usually noted by the thickening of the mucus in the body, particularly in the respiratory and digestive tracts, and at the joints for which mucus provides the lubricant for movement.

The doctor said that people could take it regularly like a supplement — overriding the dire warnings on most cough medicine bottles because they contain ingredients other than guaifenesin that have other implications. But guaifenesin, I noticed, also had a tendency to produce some gastrointestinal upset — and so I wondered if there was a remedy for that.

Then in gardening, I noticed that the plants that were the hardiest and made it through the winter were what is known as “herbs,” which in earlier times, were known as medicine and spices, and before the invention of currency, was actually used as money as the ultimate values of societies. That’s why early societies actually went to war over the “spice” trade and control — and was one of the driving forces for the discovery of the “new world.”

At any rate, that got me into growing nothing but herbs, and researching them to see what was the best, and then I noted that fennel and anise seeds, were the herbs of longest standing as remedies for everything — particularly for conditions of digestive upset. Anise and fennel, are the basis of health store cough medicines instead, and sometimes with the use of guaifenesin, but unlike guaifenesin, is known to soothe the gastrointestinal tract, maintain healthy respiratory functioning, and meliorate arthritis pain — as it has been well known to do for thousands of years.

It is the original herbal tea — that also has the benefit of causing people to drink it frequently and thus assure proper hydration, which is one of the major deficiencies in many people’s health regimen.

The gastrointestinal problems are exploding with the aging of the population, so that it is a primary and limiting concern of most people over 50 with all their escalating ills. The first remedy of resort for a multitude of problems and conditions, would be the age-old and legendary standby of fennel and aniseseed infusions (tea), to restore normal, optimal functioning in most people.

It was standard provision of the Roman Legion as they conquered the world, and were/are the staples of Italian and East Indian cuisines.

[Rockingham]

Omega 3 oils include alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3n-3), which is mostly found in certain plants, and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3), which are mostly found in fish. DHA is essential to the proper development and functioning of the brain and nerve tissue.

[dangerdoc]

Well that’s a fine kettle of fish.

[JoeProBono]

[hadit2here]

This article is a major load of anti-supplement propaganda and filled with bull$h!t.

>> “Fish oil - long encouraged by doctors as a supplement to support heart and joint health, among other benefits - induced severe colitis and colon cancer in mice in research led by Michigan State University and published this month in the journal Cancer Research.” <<

Firstly, what is stated here is prevarication by omission (lying). Read down further and you find that the mice were a strain specifically “prone to inflammatory-like bowel disease”, so “inducing severe colitis and colon cancer” in them shouldn’t be difficult, as they are already prone to it. Anything that stressed their systems would likely result in adverse reactions.

>> “Our findings support a growing body of literature implicating harmful effects of high doses of fish oil consumption in relation to certain diseases,” <<

“Implicating”! Not “proving”. And note that nowhere in the article does she specify exactly how much a “high dose” is. Force feeding “high doses” of distilled water will result in (like the drug ads say) ‘adverse reactions and sometimes death’. Why doesn’t she provide the exact doses per body weight and the resulting blood levels (in micrograms/deciliter, fer instance) of the omega 3? Because then even a simple minded idiot could figure out that maybe those high a doses shouldn’t be fed to any creature. Gimme a break!

>> “Currently, there is a call by academics and the food industry to establish dietary guidelines for omega-3 consumption.” <<

In other words, we need MORE government regulation and what naturally follows that is “we need more government grants to study this”, which is more or less stated in the closing paragraphs.

>> “The findings were surprising, specifically because DHA has been shown to have some anti-inflammatory properties, according to Fenton: “We hypothesized that feeding fish oil enriched with DHA to mice would decrease the cancer risk; we actually found the opposite. These mice were less equipped to mount a successful immune response to bacteria that increased colon tumors.” <<

Why is it today that whenever I hear that some “scientist” found something “surprising”, I just automatically discount whatever it is that was surprising. What I’d be really interested in finding out is if a number of scientists and studies found the very same “surprising” result. That’s the scientific method in action. This is one study with “surprising” results, so let’s see if it can be falsified or duplicated many times. And maybe they could use mice that AREN’T prone to inflammatory disease and cancer instead of ones who are. Ya think?

>> “Fenton cautions people may not need to avoid fish oil; what the research shows is needed are guidelines on dosing.” <<

Guidelines magically turn into regulations which turn into laws with draconian penalties for violation or complete proscription of the supplement We’ve seen this time and again. Remember tryptophan?. Uh, no. We don’t need any more of your well intentioned “guidelines”. Let us read the labels and all the studies and draw our own personal conclusions for our own personal lives.

>> “With fish oil, we don’t yet know how much is appropriate,” said Fenton, also a researcher with the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station.” <<

I call Bull$h!t. Read some natural health magazines or consult some natural health doctors. You may be surprised how much is known that YOU don’t know. But again, this whole article is part of the propaganda campaign against natural health and supplementation. It’s much harder to suppress a healthy, knowledgeable citizenry than one who’s sick, diseased and aren’t allowed to take responsibility for their own health and welfare. Cue the anti-supplement phrases:

>> “There are many examples of taking supplements, nutrients or chemicals in excess that can promote cancer (for example, beta-carotene supplementation in smokers). Supplementation is most useful when the person taking them is deficient in that specific nutrient.” <<

Honey, maybe you should actually get out of your lab coat and go outside your lab and talk to people who actually know something about our food chain and good health. Like learning about the report to Congress in 1938 that stated the mineral content of our farm soil was depleted already. We don’t get the nutrients in our foods because of our manufactured food chain, so supplementation is necessary. But you won’t know this if you work in a gov’t funded lab and know nothing about health and the properties of foods.

>> “The research team’s findings could have an important preventive health impact, specifically in light of the high rates of colon cancer in the United States. Individuals with inflammatory bowel disease have an increased risk of developing colon cancer, and when the cancer metastasizes it can be fatal.” <<

Always gotta bring in the big CANCER boogeyman. Oooooo, scary! How many trillions of dollars over the last 50 years have been spent on “the cure for cancer” and the cancer rates only seem to increase? Maybe if “cancer research” wasn’t such a big $$$ business, the natural health researchers would be given more credibility instead of being vilified and we’d know more about staying healthy instead of getting cancer.

>> “The next step, Fenton said, is to test omega-3 fatty acid levels in people with inflammatory bowel disease. To that end, she is continuing to build relationships - via MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine campus in Macomb County - with gastrointestinal specialists to develop a cohort of patients.” <<

So now that she’s determined in her own mind that mice with IBD get worse and get cancer, she’s gonna inflict it on unwitting human subjects. Of course, she’ll have to have government mega grants to take the next step and see if she can kill unwitting humans.

I’m sure Michigan State University is going to be right there at the head of the grant line with their hands out. And as long as they can assure the government that their research will be anti-supplement, they’ll get their grants. And I’m sure they’re in constant contact with the FDA, getting guidance in how to slant their research and their press releases. Like this one.

Gimme a break!

[hadit2here]

Our jugeared half breed in the white hut and his regime have already started the process to eliminate any way to legally grow your own food or herbs - even on your own property, no matter what Mooochelle seems to advocate with her white hut “garden”. Gotta be reliant on big daddy gubmint. Can’t have a citizenry who is healthy, knowledgeable and armed.

[SunkenCiv]

Luckily, they don’t have opposable thumbs, so they can’t operate the rod and reel.

[TheOldLady]

Oh, thank goodness!

[Smokin' Joe]

I’m convinced that anyone who eats food is going to die one day.

There appears to be a connection. An overwhelming majority of people who have died of cancer have eaten food at one time or another.

I am sure some researcher will apply for a Government grant for 'further study' of the phenomenon...

[bigheadfred]

Wasn’t it Socrates that said “To heck with the moderators. I’m gonna get my kicks before my whole s**thouse goes up in flames”? And because of those high doses of excess died of colon cancer? And then that guy Sophocles wrote a story about it and everyone said “Wow! What a tragedy”? So now when someone says “it’s all Greek to me” you KNOW they are epitomizing suffering from some terrible malady of the rectal region. Which is probably The Devil Inside brought on from eating the fish oil they got from the snake oil salesman, INXS...

[grey_whiskers]

Concur.

[Fire_on_High]

Rodents are cheerfully omnivorous, and when in proximity to humans will eat anything we eat. That said, fish obviously wouldn’t be a part of their normal diet, except what’s purloined from the trash or perhaps found dead and washed up.

I’ve kept both rats and mice, and always let them have at least a taste of any reasonably healthy food we ate. They’d all gotten to sample everything from beef and pork to chicken, turkey, and fish. None seemed to suffer any ill effects from it.

[dfwgator]

Bad news for mice who drink fish oil.