Here's a post I put on the wrong forum recently about flaxseed oil...
Just found some scary stuff regarding flaxseed oil and prostate cancer. Considering the fact that most bodybuilding experts advise consumption of large quantities of flaxseed oil (quite often while taking androgenic steroids - which are already bad for the prostate), I think the following article should be looked at very closely.
Anybody out there have an "informed" opinion on the benefits AND risks of supplementing with flaxseed?
G
The full article can be found at the following link:
http://www.prostateforum.com/Flaxseedoil.pdf
Here is some of the more disturbing text from the above link:
... "An epidemiology study that examines the association of alphalinolenic
acid and prostate cancer risk has just been published. Dr. Eduardo
De Stefani and colleagues from Registro Nacional de Cancer, Montevideo,
Uruguay, examined the association between prostate cancer and alphalinolenic acid, linoleic acid, total fat, saturated fat, and monounsaturated fat. Addit-ionally, they tested whether there was a difference between alpha-linolenic acid obtained from animal or vegetable sources. One of the reasons this study is interesting is that Uruguay has one of the higher death rates from prostate cancer, as well as one of the highest rates of red meat consumption.
This study found that the major risk factors associated with the
development of prostate cancer were family history of this disease and
intake of alpha-linolenic acid. When the risk was adjusted for intake of
linoleic acid, saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, and red meat intake,
those with the highest intake of alpha-linolenic acid had a 440% increase
in risk compared with those at the lowest level. Also, alpha-linolenic acid
from both vegetable and animal sources was associated with an increase
in the risk of prostate cancer.
There are now six epidemiology studies that have examined the
association between dietary alpha-linolenic acid and risk of prostate
cancer. Five out of six of these studies found an increase in the risk of
prostate cancer associated with alpha-linolenic acid. The one negative
study is from Swe-den. It is important to note that the Swedish study
found this fatty acid had no impact and therefore did not show any benefit from alpha-linolenic acid. Thus, six out of six studies found no benefit to in-creased alpha-linolenic acid, while five found potential harm! I should also note that our laboratory, as well as others, found that alpha-linolenic acid is one of the most powerful growth stimuli for human prostate cancer cells."....