Babies benefit from omega-3 fatty acids from womb to high chair
Anaheim, Calif. Mothers who eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids
during pregnancy and while nursing, and who continue to feed their
babies such a diet after weaning, may reduce their daughters' risk of
developing breast cancer later in life dramatically, according to
research presented here today at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American
Association for Cancer Research.
Either maternal or post-weaning dietary consumption of this type
of fat ? that is, taking in omega-3 fatty acids through food
or supplements at any point in life from conception to at least
puberty also could reduce the incidence rate for breast cancer
in female offspring significantly.
Conversely, mothers' consumption of omega-6 fats commonly found in
Western diets could increase their daughters' risk of breast cancer.
"Diet matters, Mom," said W. Elaine Hardman, Ph.D., an assistant
professor in the Division of Functional Foods at the Pennington
Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge.
"Inadvertently, we may be setting up our daughters to develop breast
cancer 50 years from now."
Both omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are essential for human health;
however, particularly in the Western hemisphere, omega-6 fatty acids far
exceed omega-3 fatty acids in the typical diet. Meat, eggs, poultry,
cereals, breads, baked goods, most vegetable oils, and margarine are
among dietary sources of omega-6 fatty acids.
Omega-3 fatty acids occur most commonly in fish ? especially cold-water
fish such as tuna, salmon and mackerel ? as well as in canola and
flaxseed oils, soybeans and nuts.
Hardman based her hypothesis on existing research showing that maternal
diets containing high amounts of omega-6 fatty acids increase maternal
estrogen levels; increased maternal estrogen, in turn, has been linked
to an increased incidence of breast cancer among female offspring.
Meanwhile, many foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids are known to block the
effects of estrogen and boost immunity.
Working with mice bred with a genetic predisposition to develop breast
cancer, Hardman compared the incidence rates for the disease in
offspring depending upon theirs and their mothers' relative consumption
of diets either high in omega-6 fatty acids, or high in omega-3 fatty acids.
The genetic make-up of the female mice was such that all would develop
hyperplasia; that is, to grow too many normal cells, in the mammary
ducts, by three months of age. By six months, that hyperplasia would
progress to mammary adenocarcinoma.
The mice were bred and the mothers were fed diets high in either omega-6
fatty acids or high in omega-3 fatty acids, both during the gestation
period and while breast-feeding the female young. After the daughters
were weaned, one group was placed on a high-omega-6 fatty acid diet,
while the other was fed predominantly omega-3 fatty acids.
In Hardman's experiment, all the young exposed only to omega-6 fatty
acids, in utero, in nursing and after weaning, showed mammary gland
tumors by six months of age. Conversely, fewer than 60 percent of the
female offspring who ate richly of high omega-3 fatty acids either
maternally or post-weaning formed mammary tumors by the age of eight
months. Those exposed to omega-3 fatty acids both maternally and after
weaning had a tumor incidence rate of just 13 percent.
The beauty of the mouse model, Hardman explains, is the ability it gives
researchers to collapse an entire life-span into a matter of months,
instead of years. By using mice programmed genetically to develop tumors
in the mammary glands eliminates the element of chance.
Harman has observed suppression of tumor growth with as little as two
percent omega-3 fatty acids in the diet.
"A couple of servings a week may be enough," she said. "A quarter of a
cup of walnuts constitutes one serving."
For pregnant women who are concerned about ingesting mercury in fish,
Hardman recommends fish oil supplements, readily available in grocery,
drug and health food stores. The fish oil in supplements is well purified.
Source:
www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-04/aafc-mpa041205.php
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