Fat fish lowers the risk of breast cancer

Breast cancer risk is to be lowered by omega-3 fatty acids in fatty fish

06/29/2013

The consumption of oily fish should significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer. That's what Chinese researchers found out. Like Professor Duo Li from Zhejiang University and his team in the prestigious journal „British Medical Journal ", especially the polyunsaturated omega 3 fatty acids have a positive effect.

Prevent breast cancer with oily fish
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in many developed countries. In Germany alone, more than 70,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. To find out how to reduce the risk of breast cancer, the Chinese researchers evaluated 26 studies from the US, Europe and Asia. They analyzed the data of a total of 800,000 women and about 20,000 breast cancer cases.

As it turns out, regular consumption of fatty fish such as salmon, tuna or sardines significantly reduces breast cancer risk. Thus, the polyunsaturated omega 3 fatty acids are responsible for the positive effect.

„Our results have important implications for public health. Breast cancer prevention remains an important public health topic for researchers, especially with regard to research into the relationships between breast cancer, diet and lifestyle“, write the scientists.

Fat fish should also reduce the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease
Omega-3s in fatty fish are also said to reduce the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack. This was the result of a study by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in collaboration with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. For this, the researchers studied Eskimos, which consume about 20 times more omega-3 fatty acids than the average of the US population. As it turned out, although about 70 percent of Eskimos were overweight due to high-fat foods, they were much less likely to suffer from weight-gain related illnesses such as diabetes or cardiovascular problems. (Ag)