Skin cancer: with omega 3, you risk half as much

Regular intake of Omega 3 reduces the risk factor for developing cancers such as carcinomas and melanomas by half. This is claimed by a study from the University of Manchester, published in theAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Intake of Omega 3, according to Professor Rhodes' team, may increase the epidermis' ability to protect against the sun's rays, consequently protecting against skin cancer.

According to the study, funded by theAssociation for International Cancer Research, regular intake of Omega 3 reduces a risk factor for developing carcinomas and melanomas by half. Previous studies on guinea pigs had already led to these inferences, but this study, the first performed on volunteer subjects and not on animals, confirms expectations.  

There is a mechanism by which the sun's rays induce immunosuppression, resulting in an increased chance of contracting infections and cancers including skin cancer. The research was done on 79 healthy subjects who took 5 grams a day of a supplement containing 3.5 g EPA and 500mg DHA for 3 months. The researchers then reproduced the conditions of 8, 15 and 30 minutes of summer sun exposure. Immunosuppression, a promoter of skin cancer, was 50% lower in subjects who had taken the omega-3 fatty acid supplements and were exposed for 8 and 15 minutes. In contrast, the difference was insignificant when exposure was 30 minutes. The scholars point out that omega-3s are not a substitute for sunscreen and adequate sun exposure (thus avoiding direct rays during the hottest hours), but they are a valuable aid in defending the skin from melanomas and carcinomas.   

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