Omega-3 Fatty Acids : Supplements 101

What exactly are omega-3 fatty acids? They are essential, but what does “essential” even mean? Why do we need them? How are they used in our bodies? What foods are the best sources?
In this episode, Tina and Leah tackle these questions and more. They also discuss the role of omega-3s before, during, and after treatment for cancer. They include a few studies that show particular benefits during conventional cancer treatments and some cautionary notes too.
And , keep an ear out for hot tips and trivial bits, all relevant to omega-3 fatty acids, of course. So sit back (or drive, or walk, or do whatever you do when you are listening to a podcast) and enjoy this latest episode in their series Supplements 101.
Links we mentioned on this episode and other cool stuff:
Higher Dietary Intake of Alpha-Linolenic Acid May Lower Mortality Risk
Essential Fatty Acids Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University
Is fish oil bad for LDL cholesterol?
Increased Plasma Levels of Chemoresistance-Inducing Fatty Acid 16:4(n-3) After Consumption of Fish and Fish Oil JAMA Oncology
Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Can Reduce C-Reactive Protein in Patients with Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials Nutrition and Cancer
Fish Oil Improves Chemotherapy Effects in Lung Cancer Patients Review of study in Natural Medicine Journal
Fish Oil and Perioperative Bleeding Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes
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THANK YOU for listening!
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Hey, Leah, are you, all done with that oatmeal?
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Y'all well fed?
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Well, the how appropriate
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and you just missed your first morning dose.
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We can, saturate it there.
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We can do all sorts of fun stuff with these fats that we consume and make what we need, the omega three fatty acids we cannot make them.
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We have to take them in through a food source and they are required for function.
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So the word essential, let's start there.
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It's an essential fatty acid or essential oils, no essential oils or something different.
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Essential oils are completely different.
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Essential oils are from plants and they're the center aspect of the plant.
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So not that essential fatty acids, not essential oils.
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Right.
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Yeah.
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So it always starts with plants, whether it's alpha linolenic acid or it's Lin oleic.
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It starts from a plant, a plant has to make it, and then an animal consumes it.
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Yes
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And they're both essential.
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Right?
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Right.
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And on the flip side, and I think this is the last we're going to mention the omega six side of the equation.
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A lot of people are getting those mega six fatty acids from soybean oil Safflower sunflower vegetable oils, basically when you do the oil, cook with it, eat processed food that has it.
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That's what ups the omega six consumption
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right.
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Instead of the whole food, which limits your consumption of it.
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Right?
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So we're not advocates of the vegetable oils in general.
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Have we mentioned what the EPA DHA stand for.
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All right.
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I'll do the honors.
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I Cosa pentameric acid is EPA and
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a
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Right, right.
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So there's some other oils in there that just aren't
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So more estrogen means better conversion into the EPA DHA.
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Right.
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So if you want to, you want a sure way to make sure that you're getting enough EPA DHA would be to eat food sources of those which cold water fish are probably the number one source
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yes, freshly ground flax seed, pumpkin seeds also.
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you can get pumpkin seeds when they're in season.
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You can save them if you're buying pumpkin's for the family and, you know, pumpkin seeds are delicious.
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Yeah.
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I knew also you get some from other foods like soybeans, but I don't advocate for soybean oil, which has added in everything.
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But if people are eating,
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you're going to get some ALA in that.
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oh, sure.
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Yeah.
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We actually talked about that
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Okay, here goes the first tangent, here we go.
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tangential warning.
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so you know, grass fed beef and grass fed animals in general.
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Some people are turned off by them because they're too quote unquote gamey, the gaming business that people taste and meet the fishiness.
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We taste and fish, the flak soil that goes bad on their refrigerator.
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Cause you haven't used it.
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All of it is the omega-3 fatty acids going bad.
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So fresh fish is not fishy.
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It's only fishy when it sits around.
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oils will degrade eventually and become fishy.
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So fresh fish is not fishy pers.
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Because it's fresh.
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The omega-3 fatty acids are intact.
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It's the same thing with grass fed beef and, flax seeds, even flax oil will go bad.
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So if you're in a part of the country where it's sat on the shelf and it's on sale.
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Cause it's about to expire next month.
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It may go bad and it will smell nasty.
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All of
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fatty acids They're extremely volatile.
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And they, go bad because they get oxidized.
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So when fatty acids get oxidized, they're stinky and nasty and you
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yeah.
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I was going to say depends on the lake, yeah.
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in general, sushi grade, right?
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So Shimi grade fish when people eat
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right.
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Because it's been sitting there.
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its surface area is exposed to oxygen.
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And as long as that's happening, it's it's starting to go bad.
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Yeah.
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And then people think that's what it, that's what it tastes like.
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They don't know that it's oxidized.
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It's kind of like the grass fed beef or if it's game meat like venison people are like, oh, that stuff's nasty because it's gamey.
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Well, if it's fresh enough it won't be rancid oils that you're eating.
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So it
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Yeah.
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How are they used in the body anyways?
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so let's talk about some things that these omega-3 fatty acids do in the body and why we need them.
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Yeah, why they're essential.
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They're essential because our cells are made of what's
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the cells in the body.
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two fatty acids, that kind of point at each other.
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yes.
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you have the head on the outside and the tails coming in.
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So you have the hydrophilic and the hydrophobic parts of a fatty acid and the hydro Fillic parts point towards the inside of the cell and the outside of the cell and the hydro phobic parts point toward each other.
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And that's the tail.
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Right?
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Right.
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So a cell membrane has this BI lipid layer or two fatty acid layers.
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And there's all different types of fatty acids that Okay.
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I'm finding this a little challenging too.
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This is a podcast.
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So I know that people do not see my hands right now.
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It's very clear if he saw my hands anyways, all you really need to know is the fatty acids are a variety of types of fatty acids.
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And you need a certain amount of these omega-3 fatty acids that are very fluid to be incorporated into the cell membrane.
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So what you want in a good cell membrane is fluidity.
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You want it to be able to move around.
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It's not static.
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So you have all sorts of channels and receptors and sugar molecules hanging off of it.
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But they're not sitting still they're moving at all times.
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And that movement is into.
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To good, proper, robust cellular function so that it reacts to its outside and it communicates with other cells and the immune system and interiorly, it also functions normally because the cell membrane allows things to get through those receptors and channels are functioning properly and it keeps out other things that shouldn't be going through the cell.
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Right?
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So fluidity is the key to a good cell function, which is interesting, right?
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Because resilience is the key to health.
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In general, resilient cells are made with some omega-3 fatty acids incorporated into their membranes.
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Yeah.
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And you can think of fluidity as a literal term with the oil on your counter too.
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Right?
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So saturated fats, aren't fluid.
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You're talking about butter.
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You're talking about lard.
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coconut oil.
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I mean, they solidify at room temperature and depending where you live, coconut oil could be fluid or not.
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in any case, these polyunsaturated
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a polyunsaturated, fatty acid are more fluid in general.
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oh my God, three fatty acids can be put into the freezer and they still won't freeze.
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So that, that fluid, they just don't solidify.
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And that's the same in
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is preserved with these polyunsaturated fatty acids.
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So the cell membrane function all around needs to have a certain amount in there.
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And when you have enough of these omega-3 fatty acids incorporated into the, your membranes of your cells, you have a more anti-inflammatory tendency.
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When your cell goes to break down some of that cell membrane.
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This is part of what happens all the time.
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We have enzymes that go up, grab those little fatty acids from the membrane and break them down.
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And if you have very little omega-3 fatty acids incorporated, that whole process is going to lead to more inflammation.
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if you have a good amount of omega-3 fatty acids incorporated, that same enzyme goes up, pulled down on a mega three fatty acid and the net effect of breaking down that particular type of fatty acid is anti-inflammatory.
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So this is one of the reasons we say omega-3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory because naturally, if we have enough of them, your body will tend towards less inflammation in the same vein on the anti-inflammatory effects.
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The omega-3 fatty acids can also become resolvins and resolvins are a whole class of compounds that we make to resolve inflammation because inflammation is necessary.
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We have to have inflammation.
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We wouldn't heal from a cut or get over a flu.
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You have to resolve the inflammation and keep it from becoming chronic
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Nice and simple.
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Right?
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I guess the last thing I should mention, is that fatty acids are also by virtue of being these long chains of carbon.
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They are taken up into cells and we make energy from them.
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So fatty acids are used to make energy within the cell.
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So they're a source of energy, just like glucose as a source of energy for cells, fatty acids can be a source of energy for the cells in particular, the mitochondria is where that's produced.
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Oh, yeah.
00:18:12.461 --> 00:18:29.054
Let's I don't wanna get into too much detail, but when you have an unsaturated fatty acid, you have what are called, double bonds between the carbons where those double bonds occur has to do with calling it omega-3 fatty acid Omega just has to do with a site on the chain.
00:18:29.304 --> 00:18:29.693
00:18:30.069 --> 00:18:34.869
00:18:34.900 --> 00:18:42.416
00:18:42.416 --> 00:18:43.646
00:18:44.426 --> 00:18:57.571
00:18:57.571 --> 00:19:04.950
00:19:05.259 --> 00:19:06.669
00:19:06.734 --> 00:19:10.924
00:19:11.174 --> 00:19:11.567
Right.
00:19:11.567 --> 00:19:13.277
00:19:13.277 --> 00:19:15.136
00:19:15.906 --> 00:19:16.176
Right.
00:19:16.176 --> 00:19:21.020
So adequate amounts is essential for just good overall health for all systems.
00:19:21.471 --> 00:19:21.891
00:19:21.891 --> 00:19:27.230
00:19:27.230 --> 00:19:36.137
00:19:36.218 --> 00:19:45.938
00:19:45.968 --> 00:19:46.328
00:19:46.605 --> 00:19:49.865
00:19:49.907 --> 00:20:15.678
So maybe the one, the one group that we do need to mention is anyone who has trouble absorbing fats in general, they're not going to have selective absorption troubles with this particular fat, but if someone has trouble because they have trouble with their pancreatic function, so there's less lipase or there's trouble, or they don't even have their gallbladder, you know, gallbladder has been removed for whatever reason and there's less bile acids.
00:20:15.931 --> 00:20:19.770
There's going to be a little more trouble absorbing fats in general.
00:20:20.266 --> 00:20:20.625
00:20:20.625 --> 00:20:25.996
00:20:26.296 --> 00:20:28.636
00:20:28.686 --> 00:20:37.868
00:20:37.962 --> 00:20:38.202
Yeah.
00:20:38.202 --> 00:20:39.192
So let's, let's break it down.
00:20:39.192 --> 00:20:45.073
We'll talk about prevention, like primary prevention of cancer in general, and then during treatment time, and then after cancer
00:20:45.392 --> 00:20:45.665
00:20:45.665 --> 00:20:46.296
00:20:46.506 --> 00:20:46.955
00:20:47.613 --> 00:20:47.942
00:20:50.625 --> 00:20:56.490
00:20:56.557 --> 00:21:00.885
00:21:06.976 --> 00:21:15.727
So one of the things that we know is when there is a systemic chronic inflammatory state for a long period of time, that's not good for health.
00:21:16.176 --> 00:21:23.498
And it seems, although nothing is conclusive, but it does seem that high inflammatory state systemic high inflammation.
00:21:24.246 --> 00:21:27.816
Is a risk factor for various types of cancer.
00:21:27.816 --> 00:21:36.796
and we know this because CRP or C-reactive protein is one way to test that in high CRP has been associated with many, many different cancers.
00:21:36.836 --> 00:21:50.852
Um, cause and effect are a little bit overlapping because once cancer is present, the CRP can go up just because cancer creates these inflammatory compounds, including that CRP, which just a marker of systemic inflammation.
00:21:51.122 --> 00:22:00.541
but in general, anything that dampens inflammation and keeps people in more of a balanced state between inflammation and anti-inflammation states is going to be preventative.
00:22:00.817 --> 00:22:05.001
I think the research is strongest in cancers like colorectal.
00:22:05.991 --> 00:22:07.192
00:22:07.192 --> 00:22:10.221
00:22:10.747 --> 00:22:12.457
I know because people promise it.
00:22:12.584 --> 00:22:12.866
Right.
00:22:12.967 --> 00:22:14.076
00:22:14.196 --> 00:22:14.586
00:22:14.616 --> 00:22:18.856
00:22:18.856 --> 00:22:21.686
00:22:21.686 --> 00:22:25.047
00:22:25.717 --> 00:22:26.287
yeah, I know.
00:22:26.287 --> 00:22:28.116
I don't really like the word prevention either.
00:22:28.116 --> 00:22:33.522
I still used in the headlines and it's yeah, it's an over promise to say, you can prevent it.
00:22:33.535 --> 00:22:35.637
we can reduce your risk of it happening,
00:22:35.958 --> 00:22:36.347
00:22:36.387 --> 00:22:36.657
can't
00:22:37.640 --> 00:22:38.029
00:22:38.059 --> 00:22:44.653
00:22:44.727 --> 00:22:45.237
Yeah.
00:22:45.237 --> 00:22:49.467
So of course that overlaps with where are they getting it and how are their diets in general?
00:22:49.527 --> 00:22:57.311
and in other words, if they're eating more, nuts and seeds or they're eating more cold water fish, then there's more happening than just omega-3 fatty acids, neutral.
00:22:57.750 --> 00:23:06.134
So like always observational studies that show trends in any consumption of a food and an outcome are just that they're trends.
00:23:06.134 --> 00:23:09.403
And they're what we call hypothesis generating.
00:23:09.433 --> 00:23:10.634
They're not proof of anything.
00:23:10.909 --> 00:23:15.409
00:23:15.544 --> 00:23:15.814
Yeah.
00:23:15.814 --> 00:23:23.941
So the only way to really know is to take a bunch of people over a long period of time, give them a supplement and then have a placebo group, and see what the rates
00:23:24.546 --> 00:23:26.855
00:23:26.855 --> 00:23:27.215
00:23:27.276 --> 00:23:30.125
00:23:30.371 --> 00:23:31.000
not likely.
00:23:31.030 --> 00:23:31.300
Yeah.
00:23:31.691 --> 00:23:37.030
So as far as risk reduction, we have trends that show that it may be beneficial, but we don't have anything conclusive.
00:23:37.250 --> 00:23:37.701
00:23:37.814 --> 00:23:40.064
00:23:40.064 --> 00:23:56.461
00:23:56.490 --> 00:23:59.641
00:23:59.641 --> 00:24:02.431
00:24:02.528 --> 00:24:02.858
Yeah.
00:24:02.858 --> 00:24:08.721
And so during treatment, whether it's chemotherapy, well, let's just take like a chemotherapy first.
00:24:08.721 --> 00:24:10.221
Let's divide this out a little bit.
00:24:10.550 --> 00:24:11.510
So it depends on the drug.
00:24:12.320 --> 00:24:12.891
First of all.
00:24:12.921 --> 00:24:24.448
So there's, there's evidence that, omega-3 fatty acids, fish oil in particular may lessen neuropathy in some chemotherapies, like the taxane based that paclitaxel and docetaxel,
00:24:24.877 --> 00:24:39.218
00:24:39.218 --> 00:24:41.347
00:24:42.228 --> 00:24:42.587
Right.
00:24:43.096 --> 00:24:43.517
Never.
00:24:43.617 --> 00:24:47.667
00:24:47.667 --> 00:24:50.367
00:24:50.740 --> 00:24:51.130
Yeah.
00:24:51.130 --> 00:24:57.510
And that, that was one study that was back in 2012, on the taxanes and, it used the word protective.
00:24:57.510 --> 00:25:03.327
it said something like omega-3 fatty acids are protective against paclitaxel induced neuropathy or something like that.
00:25:03.373 --> 00:25:11.383
in any case, There was a trial using omega-3 fatty acids and looking at peripheral neuropathy induced by oxaliplatin.
00:25:11.982 --> 00:25:15.913
And it reduced the risk of that for these folks who took it.
00:25:16.291 --> 00:25:22.201
The irony of that of course, is there's a whole nother mouse study that said don't take fish oils alongside a platinum drug.
00:25:22.261 --> 00:25:22.771
So,
00:25:23.166 --> 00:25:24.217
00:25:25.288 --> 00:25:26.518
00:25:26.647 --> 00:25:28.178
yeah, that was a mouse study.
00:25:28.278 --> 00:25:35.280
I'm not so sure it's all that relevant for what we do when you have a human trial showing that there could be benefit rather than, you know, any problem with it.
00:25:35.800 --> 00:25:43.561
00:25:43.892 --> 00:25:50.942
00:25:51.212 --> 00:25:54.573
00:25:54.752 --> 00:25:59.373
The forum that created resistance in those mice to the drug, the platinum-based drugs
00:25:59.522 --> 00:26:00.153
00:26:01.383 --> 00:26:04.292
00:26:04.722 --> 00:26:05.022
yeah.
00:26:05.833 --> 00:26:19.195
the other common use during treatment is if someone has trouble with weight loss, actual trouble, keeping their weight on, whether it's muscle loss or overall weight loss, we'll do higher doses official to try and maintain that.
00:26:19.570 --> 00:26:20.080
00:26:20.111 --> 00:26:23.260
00:26:23.291 --> 00:26:24.102
00:26:24.247 --> 00:26:24.767
00:26:24.767 --> 00:26:31.307
00:26:31.807 --> 00:26:32.166
Yeah.
00:26:32.166 --> 00:26:47.391
And some of that has to do yes, it has calories in and of itself, but it's also its anti-inflammatory effect because at some point, especially if someone is in kind of that spiral of cookie Mexia, then that is an inflammatory process in and of itself.
00:26:47.406 --> 00:26:51.563
So fish oil can counter that and we use fish oil and higher doses for that during treatment
00:26:52.050 --> 00:26:52.201
00:26:52.201 --> 00:26:55.864
00:26:56.943 --> 00:27:00.260