Mothers play a major role in the prevention of breast cancer in
their daughters: A study on mice found women who ate foods rich
in omega-3 fatty acids during their pregnancies and while nursing
reduced breast cancer risk in their daughters by as much as 40 percent.
Not only that ...
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Diets rich in omega-3 provided the
same amount of protection to female children after they stopped
breastfeeding.
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Eating foods or supplements rich in
omega-3 at any point in a woman's life can significantly reduce
their risk of breast cancer.
And while both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are essential for
good health, eating an excess of omega-6 fats, found in meat, eggs,
poultry, cereal, breads, baked good, most vegetable oils and margarine,
can increase one's chances of developing breast cancer. Omega-3
fats are found in fish such as tuna, salmon and mackerel, as well
as in canola and flaxseed oils, soybeans and nuts.
Revealing the Omega-3-Breast Cancer Link
In studies done on mice, researchers found all of the mouse pups
exposed only to omega-6 fatty acids in the uterus, while nursing
and after weaning, developed mammary gland tumors by six months
after birth. Conversely, less than 60 percent of the female offspring
with diets high in omega-3 fatty acids, either in the uterus or
after weaning, developed mammary tumors in eight months.
Researchers suspect because omega-3 fatty acids reduce the amount
of estrogen -- important in mammary gland development -- cancer
risk is consequently lowered.
Forbes
April 20, 2005
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