Fish oil and prostate cancer study is full of holes

Study linking fish oil to prostate cancer stinks to the gills

It’s a little-known scientific fact that men are biologically incapable of telling the truth about fish. It seems like every fish we’ve ever caught — or, more often than not, “almost” caught — doubles in size every six months.

In fact, there’s nothing we fellas enjoy more than sitting around the table, knocking back some brews, and gabbing about those undersea mammoths that got away — even if we know we’re stretching the truth a bit.

But there are some fish tales that are just too ridiculous to excuse — especially when the health and well-being of millions of people are at stake. And just recently, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the greatest piece of fish fiction since Herman Melville penned Moby Dick.

You may have seen it — it was splashed all across national newswires and television programs. A group of scientists from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center made the audacious claim that fish oil may increase your risk of prostate cancer by a staggering 71%! The ink was hardly dry on the study before you could hear the sound of toilets flushing millions of fish-oil capsules all around the world.

There’s only one problem. This research isn’t seaworthy — in fact, it doesn’t float at all. The study was so filled with incorrect assumptions that it probably should never have been published at all — and you certainly shouldn’t be basing any health decisions on it. (Dr. Wright recommends an excellent piece by Dr. Michael Murray breaking down the myriad problems with the research. You can see the sources below for more information, but I’ll give you the highlights here.)

You see, researchers based their conclusions on data from the highly controversial Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT), looking at blood levels of EPA, DHA and DPA — three fatty acids in fish and fish oil supplements. Researchers then used that data to draw sweeping conclusions about the links between fish oil and prostate cancer.

But the fact is, this study has more problems than a calculus textbook. First off, SELECT did not collect any data whatsoever on fish consumption or fish oil supplement intake, so it would be literally impossible to link either of those factors to prostate cancer using the SELECT data. SELECT did not seek to learn whether ANY participants EVER took a fish oil supplement in their lives — let alone ate any fish.

So what about the link between prostate cancer and high blood levels of EPA, DHA and DPA? Well blood levels of these acids are really only meant to provide a glimpse at what you may have consumed recently — as in the past 24 hours — and are not considered good indicators of long-term fish or fish oil consumption.

Let me put that another way — a patient with existing prostate cancer could have eaten a salmon dinner the night before his blood test, and now researchers are trying to connect that dinner with his disease. More likely, you may have had a group of men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer and started taking fish oil to improve their overall health and prognosis.

And that makes sense, because as we have shared with you before, reputable prior research has shown that fish oil can ward off certain cancers, and can improve everything from your heart to brain health. In fact, a respected 30-year study from Sweden found that cutting fish from your diet could increase your risk of prostate cancer by up to 300%!

Your local news may have gone hog-wild over the deeply flawed study “linking” fish oil to prostate cancer, but you don’t have to. In fact, if you cut fish or fish oil out of your life based on this research, you may be making the health mistake of a lifetime. Just be sure to follow Dr. Wright’s advice and take a mixed tocopherol vitamin E with your fish oil to ward off any oxidative damage.

Because this latest research is more than just a fish tale, friend — it stinks to the gills.

Sources:
How a SELECTed Bad Study Became Big News: (doctormurray.com)