Prostaglandin E2, an eicosanoid which is produced in excess by many forms of cancer, inhibits the immune system, allowing tumors to grow.
      Omega-3-fatty acids suppress the production of this substance.
[Conversely, omega-6-fatty acids, found in corn, safflower and sunflower seed oils, for example, appear to be mild tumor-promoters. And the O-6's (found concentrated in polyunsaturated vegetable oils used in processed foods such as chips, salad dressings, fast foods, ready-to-eat frozen foods, cookies, etc.) promote inflammation and may amplify the severity of an asthma attack (not _cause_, but worsen, esp. once an attack occurs). The amount of linoleic acid (major O-6 fat) has doubled in human   tissue in the last 30 years.]

      A study by the Catholic University of Rome, which involved men with colon polyps (which can become cancerous), were given daily doses of fish omega-3 or a dummy capsule for three months. In 90% of the omega-3 group, cell proliferation, a sign of colon cancer activity, fell an average of 62%. [In one patient, abnormal cell growth stopped completely.] Slowdown in abnormal cell growth was noticed by researchers within two weeks.
      Doses used were fairly high --- 8 grams of omega-3's (equivalent to about 8 ounces of mackerel/day). But it's believed that regular intake of smaller amounts of omega-3's may prevent such abnormal growth in the first place.

      Omega-3's also protect arteries, inhibit blood clots, reduce blood triglycerides, reduce the risk of stroke, heart attack and lupus, lessen the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and migraine headache, act as an anti-inflammatory agent, regulate the immune system, relieve bronchial asthma and combat early kidney disease.

      Research from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle suggests that omega-3's can lengthen a woman's pregnancy, increasing the chance that she will have a larger baby. A 1992 Denmark study showed that women who took omega-3 supplements carried their fetuses an average of four days longer than women given olive oil or no supplements. Babies born to the omega-3 women were slightly larger than the other babies.

      Constance Kies, a U. of Nebraska chemist has found that omega-3 reduces blood pressure by helping the body rid itself of excess sodium, a mineral known for its ability to drive up blood pressure.       The protective effects appear to be cumulative.

      Omega-3-fatty acids also lower total levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoproteins and very-low-density lipoproteins that deposit cholesterol on artery walls.

      A study in the Sept. 30, 1989 issue of the Lancet [part of continuing research at the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit in Cardiff and the West Wales Hospital in Carmarthen], conducted in Wales among 2,000 patients who had suffered one heart attack was telling.
      Patients were divided into three groups: those advised to eat fish at least 2x/week, and those advised to reduce dietary fat or increase their consumption of fiber-rich grains.
      The fish-eaters showed a 29% reduction in mortality (even though they had at least as many 2nd heart attacks as other participants in the study), as against no benefit in the group advised to reduce fat in the diet, and a slight increase in mortality in the group simply urged to eat more fiber.

      Dr. Alexander Leaf, chairman of preventative medicine at Harvard Medical School:
      "Omega-3-fatty acids seem to protect the heart from developing abnormal and often fatal rhythms after a blockage of blood flow to the heart muscle. Omega-3's seem to be able to abort the development of lesions in blood vessel walls, and without these lesions, there is no place for cholesterol to be deposited."
[As Dr. Gordon Bendersky pointed out in a letter to the New York Times: "Since completion of the N.I.H. study in 1984, there have been many studies supporting the cholesterol theory, e.g., the Leiden International Trial, 1985; the Coronary Drug Project, 1986; the 1987 Framingham Study.
It is anticipated that confirmation of recent evidence about regression of the atherosclerotic process resulting from therapeutic lowering of blood cholesterol will bring the theory to final proof."]

[Interestingly, a team led by Dr. Dean Ornish, assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California-San Francisco, presented a study at a Nov. '88 meeting of the American Heart Assn. (Washington, D.C.) that demonstrated marked atherosclerotic regression in a group of patients who followed what can be considered a very   conservative version of the "BioShields" regimen.
One year after completing a program consisting of a low-fat, vegetarian diet (less than 10% calories from fat), individual programs of moderate exercise, and stress-management training (yoga/meditation), a group of patients considered to   have severe heart disease (coronary arteries, on the average, 44% blocked) showed (again, on the average) a total cholesterol level drop-off of 154 mg./dL (down from avg. of 213 mg./dL), a low-density lipoprotein level of 81 (down from 136---LDL leads to the buildup of plaque), and an improvement in blockage of 40.8% (down from 44%). 10 of 12 patients in the experimental program showed reversal.
The control group (those who received customary care and advice) showed a total cholesterol level drop to 230 mg./dL (down from 251---total cholesterol   levels over 240mg./dL are considered risky), a LDL level of 148 (down from 171), and an INCREASE in coronary artery blockage (from 44.1 to 46.2%). 11 of 17 control patients actually became worse.]

          In a study of more than 2,00 middle-age men in South Wales who had had heart attacks, it was found that those who ate at least two good-sized portions of omega-3-rich fish a week, were 30 percent more likely to be alive after two years than those who didn't. The study was significant due to 1) the fact that it was beneficial in a relatively short time and 2) it didn't involve huge doses of omega-3 fatty acids.
[ Coenzyme Q (ubiquinone), a vitamin-like substance found in quantity in fatty fish, has been found even more potent that vitamin E in preventing LDL cholesterol oxidation, and thus preventing clogging of arteries. Sardines have the highest level: 64 micrograms per gram of food. Mackerel: 43 mcg/gram. ]

Soybean Omega-3's

      Dr. Edward Emken, a chemist with the Agricultural Research Service in Peoria, IL (working w/ St. Francis Medical Center) found in 1989 that the linolenic acid in soybean oil (see soya lecithin) is rapidly converted in the body (within a few hours) to the same omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oils.
[Canola oil also has a significant percentage of omega-3's. The best vegetable oil source of O-3's according to Dr. William Lands, a pioneering fish-oil researcher formerly at the U. of Illinois at Chicago.]
[Other lecithin-rich food sources: mung beans, peanuts, poppy seeds, and, particularly, dandelion flowers.]

      Soybeans also contain a class of compounds called phytoestrogens. These weak estrogen-like compounds may attach to receptors on breast cells and prevent naturally produced estrogen from making a connection.
      Animal studies show that subjects on a high soybean diet, with low breast cancer rates, also had high concentrations of phytoestrogens attached to breast cells.

      Stephen Barnes, associate professor of pharmacology and biochemistry at the U. of Alabama at Birmingham produced research in 1990 indicating soybean consumption lowered tumor growth in rats.
      In rats given identical diets except for soybeans, the soybean- consumers had 50 to 70% fewer breast cancers when they were exposed to a breast-specific carcinogen.

[Supproting evidence of this phenomena was provided by cheetahs at the Cincinatti Zoo who were infertile because their estrus cycles had stopped. Dr. Ken Setchell of Children's Hospital Medical Center (Cincinnati), discovered the problem was caused by anti-estrogen soybean compounds. When the animals were taken off the soybean diet, their estrus cycles resumed.]

      Women in Asian countries w/high soybean content in their diet have breast cancer rates 5x lower than rates in the U.S.

    Australian studies indicate soybeans and derivatives may also help relieve negative symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness.

      Raw soybeans, unprocessed soy flour, tofu, soy milk (see: "Soygurt") and textured vegetable protein (TVP - soybean imitation meat) contain phytoestrogens, but soy sauce does not.

[However, Michael W. Pariza, director of the Food Research Institute at the U. of Wisconsin-Madison, isolated a soy sauce compound, HEMF (produced during fermentation) that reduces the risk of esophageal cancer in mice.]
[Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), based in Decatur, IL is the world's largest producer of edible soy proteins.]


Additional Sources Of Omega-3's

      Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is a pink, thick-leafed plant that contains very high levels of omega-3-fatty acids. It has about the same oxalic acid content as spinach (but a 3 1/2 oz. serving has 10x more alpha-linolenic acid, and 6x more vitamin E than spinach).
      [Purslane is reported to have a mild, slightly nutty taste that compliments salads and soups. Farmer's markets often sell the weed for as low as 50 cents/pound.]

      Flax is also rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
      In August, 1989, Paul A. Stitt, a Wisconsin biochemist, received patent # 4,857,326 for his method of incorporating flax into such foods as bread, cookies, salad dressings and fruit drinks. Flax is the source of linseed oil. Normally, it is unstable, and becomes rancid very quickly. Stitt's process stabalizes the flax with zinc and vitamin B-6, and does not extract the oil from the seed. The breads, cookies, muffins and drink supplements are available in approx. 800 supermarkets in the Midwest.

      Consuming hydroponically grown purslane, flax meal, soybean lecithin, and omega-3-rich fish such as (high levels) coho salmon, albacore tuna, sardines, eels, halibut, sablefish, lake trout, bluefish, spiny dogfish, mackerel, herring, and (lower levels) carp, catfish, red snapper, turbot, swordfish and rainbow trout, that have been raised using purified aquaculture techniques, avoids the impacts of environmental toxins (especially concentrated toxins that _can_ be found in fish oil capsules).

      The four major species being raised in ponds, tanks or in ocean-based pens are catfish, crawfish, trout and salmon.
  [ Dr. Joyce Nettleson, lecturer on nutrition and dietetics at Tufts University, headed a year-long study on the safety of Mississippi farm-raised catfish. The analysis of environmental contaminants revealed that the catfish contained no detectable amounts of PCB's, chlorinated hydrocarbon residues or heavy metals. ]

  [ Draining water-packed tuna results in a 3 1/2 percent loss of omega-3's. Draining oil-packed tuna results in a 15 to 20 percent loss of omega-3's. ]

  [ Tufts U. researchers have found that eating too much fish can impare the immune system. In 22 volunteers who ate fish daily, immune responses were reduced compared to those whose dietary fat came from vegetable oil.
  Simin Meydani, nutritional immunoligist who conducted the study: "Our findings simply call for moderation. An excess intake could have some undesirable effects, WHICH CAN BE PREVENTED BY GETTING ADEQUATE LEVELS OF ANTI-OXIDANT NUTRIENTS." (emphasis mine) ]