Vitamin Trader - Healthy Discounts on Quality Vitamins
|
Your Cart is Empty
|
| Registration/Login |
| This Summer, Take Fish Oil to the Beach, Along with Your Sunscreen |
|
|
|
Omega-3 reduces damage by UV rays Harvard's Edward Giovannucci, M.D. speaking on National Public Radio said that for every person who dies from skin cancers caused by excessive sun exposure, an estimated 30 people may die of non-skin cancers related to vitamin D deficiencies caused by insufficient sun exposure or dietary intake. So what to do? We need to get sufficient sun exposure to prevent cancer, but not so much that we will suffer sunburns or increase the risk of skin cancers. Sunscreen offers some protection, but statistics suggest that its anti-cancer benefits may have been oversold. While typical sunscreens do a good job of blocking skin-burning UVB rays, they offer relatively weak protection against UVA rays, which penetrate much more deeply into skin, and appear to play a much larger role in cancer promotion and skin aging than we thought. Omega-3s May Help Reduce Sun Damage The omega-3s in fish (EPA and DHA) exert significant anti-inflammatory effects throughout the body, and the results of new research suggest that, as a consequence, omega-3s can help counteract the deleterious effects of solar radiation.
A team at Britain's University of Manchester led by professor Lesley Rhodes, began publishing relevant research in 1994, starting with two small tests in human subjects, designed to examine the effects of dietary fish oil (10 grams per day, containing EPA and DHA) on skin inflammation induced by solar radiation. Following the positive results of these preliminary investigations--which showed that people taking fish oil became increasingly resistant to sunburn over a three-month period-- the Manchester team conducted two wellcontrolled clinical trials of omega-3s, whose results were published in 2003 and 2004. The first trial involved 42 volunteers, and the second involved 28 people. The participants in both studies took four grams of supplemental EPA (not DHA) or oleic acid (the monounsaturated fat abundant in olive oil) for three months. Both double-blind, randomized studies produced positive results. The skin of the volunteers who'd taken EPA supplements was significantly more resistant to sun-induced inflammation. The results also showed that the groups taking EPA enjoyed reductions in several early markers of cancer risk in skin. These positive changes indicate that EPA protects against the genetic damage in skin tissue associated with increased cancer risk. Omega-3s diminish sun damage While dietary EPA does not block the sun's UVA or UVB rays, or reduce the amount of direct tissue damage those rays can cause, it reduces the excessive, cell-damaging inflammation produced by the body in response to UV-induced tissue damage. This is why it took more UV exposure to redden the skin of the University of Manchester study subjects who took supplemental EPA. And EPA isn't the only fish-derived omega- 3 that reduces UV-induced inflammation in skin. Previous studies by the Manchester team and other research groups documented the similar anti-inflammatory effects of DHA in skin cells exposed to UV radiation. Dietary omega-3s create an environment in which UV radiation is less damaging, and where cancer is less likely to develop. |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Articles ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS / LIPIDS This Summer, Take Fish Oil to the Beach, Along with Your Sunscreen Statements on this page have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose or treat disease.