Fish Promotes Breast Cancer
By Dr. John McDougall M.D.
Fish intake is positively associated with breast cancer incidence rate published in the November 2003 issue of the Journal of Nutrition by Connie Stripp found the risk of a woman developing breast cancer increases when she eats more fish. The investigation studied 23,693 postmenopausal women, average age of 57 years. For each 25 grams (less than an ounce) of lean fish consumed daily there was a 13% increase in risk of breast cancer. For fatty fish the increase was 11% for each 25 grams. These findings are exactly the opposite of most of those that are found in experiments done in laboratories on animals. This may be because the laboratory experiments testing the link between fish fats (omega-3 fats) and cancer feed only omega-3 fats to the animals studied – A diet that includes only omega-3 fats would never be found in natural living conditions. In the real world where a mixture of fats is consumed, fish fat can be very cancer-promoting. Here are a few possible reasons:
- Fish and fish fat are known to suppress our cancer-fighting immune system.
- Fish is contaminated with cancer-causing environmental chemicals (like heavy metals and pesticides).
- Cooking fish produces powerful carcinogens called heterocyclic amines.