Written by Stephanie Klein - a medical copywriter and nurse practitioner
I recently watched the Netflix documentary Seaspiracy which is a real-time loss of innocence tale for an endearing whale, dolphin, and overall ocean lover.
I don’t think this is a spoiler, but an emerging theme of the film is finding plant-based solutions instead of eating fish (and mammals) from the ocean. This included the conundrum of people eating fish to get their omega-3 fatty acids. This essential fat is found in sea life like salmon, sardines, herring, and tuna.¹
But as it turns out, fish don’t organically create these helpful fatty acids known to reduce heart disease risk and lower triglycerides. So who (or what) makes omega-3 fatty acids?¹
Algae.
Yeah, the slimy green goop that everyone has slipped and fallen because of. Algae are found in freshwater, saltwater, and everywhere in between. They’re kind of like plants but not technically considered plants. They’re more like the simple-minded single-cellular cousins to plants. Algae lack roots, stems, or leaves. But they are full of omega-3 fatty acids.
Studies have compared the benefits of algae and fish (because I know you’ll ask) and algae have a similar effect on heart health when compared to fish oil.² Algae supplements can reduce triglycerides and oxidative stress too (that thing that leads to age-related changes like wrinkles and decreased cellular function).³
And you know those gross fish-burps you get with fish oil? You don’t get those with algae oil.⁴
Omega-3 fatty acids.
But enough pond scum talk.
Let’s talk about why omega-3 fatty acids are important and what science is saying about combining omega-3s and vitamin D.
Your body can make certain types of fats. A lot of people think of fat in terms of adipose tissue on your body AKA the fat you can see. But in reality, fat molecules live everywhere in our body and body systems providing important support to everyday function.
Omega-3 fatty acids are considered essential fats which means it’s one of the few fats your body can’t make on its own. This is where dietary sources (like fish and algae) come in. Flaxseed is another commonly used omega-3 supplement.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids include⁵:
Lowering your risk of heart disease
Lowering your risk of blood clots
Keeping your blood vessels nice and smooth and protected from plaque formation
Lowering your triglyceride level
Reducing inflammation
Due to all of these proven benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, it’s only natural for scientists to want to explore any potential benefits of omega-3s and cancer. Especially that last one – inflammation. It’s been well established the role inflammation can play in cancer development so it makes sense to consider something that’s anti-inflammatory to also be anti-cancer.
This led to a study to see if there were any cancer prevention benefits of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D supplementation.
Why did they choose vitamin D?
Vitamin D has been a hot topic in cancer prevention for a long time. This is because several studies have shown a link between low levels of vitamin D and an increased risk of cancer (an inverse relationship for any statistics nerds). And more and more people are not getting adequate vitamin D to sustain healthy levels.
Vitamin D is vital for healthy bone and muscle development. It also supports your immune system and keeps your brain and nervous system functioning properly.
Our main source of vitamin D is from the sun and the second source is diet. Common foods high in vitamin D include salmon, sardines, and herring (sound familiar? These are the same foods high in omega-3 fatty acids), egg yolks, and red meat.
Most boxed breakfast cereals are fortified with vitamin D as well as other nutrients.
But with people spending more time indoors looking at screens, using more sunscreen, and lacking a sufficient dietary intake, it’s no secret nearly half (41%) of all Americans are vitamin D deficient.⁶ African Americans have the highest rate of vitamin D deficiency with a staggering 82% presumed to be deficient.
It’s been difficult to research the effects of vitamin D supplementation because it’s hard to accurately measure someone’s vitamin D intake. Unless, of course, you lock everyone up in a windowless room to block any sunlight exposure which would probably lead to a host of other problems from participants.
Overall results have been mixed on vitamin D supplementation and cancer.⁷ Some research says it may reduce risk, some say it doesn’t make any difference.
This is another great example of how complicated cancer prevention is – even if low levels increase cancer risk, it doesn’t mean high levels mean reduced risk (highlighting the difference between causation and correlation if the stats nerds are still reading).
Natural approaches to cancer.
Holistic approaches to cancer have been used worldwide for as long as cancer has been killing people.
A common misconception is if it’s natural, holistic, or ‘from the earth’ then it’s safe and if it doesn’t work, then no harm done right?
The answer to this is a resounding no. Plants and vitamins can be just as dangerous as anything created in a lab. Here are two examples:
1. Plant-based chemotherapy treatments tend to be some of the most dangerous and risky drugs used. Vincristine comes from the plink periwinkle plant and is used to treat leukemia, lymphoma, and brain tumors.⁸
Side effects of this pretty flower include hair loss, bone marrow suppression, fatigue, increased risk of infection, nausea, vomiting, and numbness and tingling in the hands and feet.
2. The SELECT trial explored the benefits of vitamin E and selenium on cancer prevention.⁹ Selenium is a mineral and vitamin E is an organic compound (like all vitamins) and they’re both considered antioxidants. Certain antioxidants have cancer prevention tendencies making this trial seem promising to reduce cancer risk.³
Over 35,000 men participated in this trial to see if it reduced their risk of developing prostate cancer. THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND. That is a LOT of participants.
Men were given two capsules to take daily and were divided into four groups:
Selenium + vitamin E
Selenium + placebo (sugar pill)
Vitamin E + placebo
Placebo + placebo
The trial was supposed to last anywhere from 7-11 years but it was stopped prematurely. Why? Not only was there no prostate cancer risk reduction for any group, but it was also discovered patients who took 400IU vitamin E alone (without selenium) had a 17% increased risk of developing prostate cancer.
This isn’t to deter anyone from exploring holistic approaches to cancer care or treatment. There are many therapeutic benefits to a natural approach, but it can’t be overstated: natural doesn’t equal risk-free.
Omega 3 and Vitamin D – the VITAL study.
Ok, I’m off my holistic soapbox (for now). Back to omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin D.
The VITAL study explored the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids when combined with vitamin D.¹⁰ This study had over 25,000 participants (again, a LARGE study) who are taking 2000 international units (IU) of vitamin D and 1,000mg of a provided omega-3 fatty acid supplement each day.
Like the SELECT trial, participants were divided into four groups:
Vitamin D + omega-3 fatty acid
Vitamin D + placebo
Omega-3 fatty acid + placebo
Placebo + placebo
The results found that unfortunately, none of the groups reduced (or increased) the risk of developing cancer. But what they did find is there was a significant reduction in the rate of cancer-related deaths for those in the vitamin D group.
This means if two people were diagnosed with cancer, those in the vitamin D group were less likely to die from their cancer than someone not taking the supplement. One theory is Vitamin D reduces cancer-related deaths by interfering with how a tumor spreads by interrupting its blood supply.¹¹
Even though the study showed omega-3 fatty acid supplementation doesn’t seem to have proven cancer benefits, it further proved the heart-protective benefits. Patients who took omega-3 fatty acids had 28% fewer heart attacks than the other groups.
What this means for omega-3 and vitamin D supplementation and you.
Just because the omega-3 fatty acid and vitamin D dream team didn’t show benefits when it comes to reducing cancer, there weren’t any major problems with taking the supplements.
There are tons of other benefits of both supplements on their own including heart health and bone health. Omega-3 fatty acid supplements can help soothe dry eyes and improve gut health. ¹² ¹³ Vitamin D supplementation can help fight depression and can even help regulate insulin levels. ¹⁴ ¹⁵
Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D are both important to our health, even if they haven’t been proven to reduce cancer risk. And by improving your overall health, you move the odds more into your favor when it comes to living a longer, higher functioning life.
Fish, plants, the sun, or lab-created supplements can help increase your omega-3 fatty acids and restore vitamin D levels. We need external sources of both of these nutrients since we can’t make them on our own. But with all things, we can use a little help when it comes to determining how much of any supplement we should take.
This is the part where I encourage you to talk to your health practitioner about finding the best supplement options for you and to determine if you need to take a supplement. Unlike fatty acids, vitamin D levels can be measured with a blood test and not everyone is deficient. Blood tests are helpful to determine if you’re deficient and to monitor improvement over time.
I hope you found this article helpful, even though I was familiar with both supplements as well as several of the trials I mention - I learned quite a bit researching this topic. And the reason I chose this topic is thanks to someone telling me they were curious to learn more about it!
Is there are a topic you’d like to learn more about? Please tell me!
References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/omega-3/art-20045614
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18220672/
https://www.thekleincreative.com/blog/2021/2/17/the-process-of-aging-how-antioxidants-free-radicals-and-oxidative-stress-play-a-rolenbsp
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19145206/
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/17290-omega-3-fatty-acids
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21310306/
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/diet/vitamin-d-fact-sheet
http://chemocare.com/chemotherapy/drug-info/Vincristine.aspx#:~:text=What%20Vincristine%20Is%20Used%20For,to%20treat%20some%20blood%20disorders.
https://www.cancer.gov/types/prostate/research/select-trial-results-qa#13
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31733345/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7089819/
https://www.aao.org/eye-health/tips-prevention/does-fish-oil-help-dry-eye
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5751248/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2796.2008.02008.x
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/vitamin-d.html#:~:text=Vitamin%20D%20is%20believed%20to,precursor%20to%20type%202%20diabetes.
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Stephanie is Nurse Practitioner turned medical copywriter and content creator. Learn more about what that means HERE or shoot her an email at stephanie@thekleincreative.com :)
