Prostate Health: Can Krill Oil Help?

If you or someone you know is suffering with prostate problems, you've probably heard that most men over 50 are vulnerable because the gland grows ever larger and can become trouble-prone with age. Maybe you've also heard that omega 3 EPA and DHA fatty acids are good for a great many things including the prostate.

As published in the "British Journal of Cancer," March 7, 2006, a small laboratory study found that omega 3 actually stopped the spread of prostate cancer cells. How? By blocking the effects of another fatty acid, omega 6!

Principal investigator Noel Clarke said "Some tumors develop slowly in the prostate without producing symptoms and sometimes when symptoms do develop, it is because the cancer has already spread. Eating a diet with the right balance of omega 3 and omega 6 fat may well help to keep prostate cancer within the prostate gland." Clarke said his research group believes that "tumors may exploit omega 6 fats as a high energy source, giving them the energy they need to maintain a high growth rate and to create important signaling molecules."

It's also well known that omega 6 causes inflammation and is considered a major culprit in arthritis, heart disease and more.

Could the excessive amounts of omega 6 in the typical American diet be triggering the rise in prostate disorders and even prostate cancer deaths?

The answer is still not clear. The research showed an effect in the laboratory, but large population studies are needed. However, lead study author Mick Brown of the Paterson Institute said "Omega 6 fats, found in vegetable oils, nuts and seeds, increased the spread of tumor cells into bone marrow. The invasion was blocked by omega 3 fats - the ones found in fish. It is possible to have a healthy balance of the two types of fat that will stop the cancer from spreading."

But how do you achieve the right balance of omega 3 to omega 6? How do you know how much of what/what not to eat?

One answer is to take fish oil supplements because the label should tell you what the ratio is. However...

• Many fish oil supplements contain too much omega 6.
• Many fish are contaminated with dangerous environmental toxins.
• Molecular distillation and other purification processes deplete nutritional value.
• Omega 3 in fish oil is only about 65% bioavailable.
• Fish oil can easily be rancid without your knowing it.

Now for the Good News.

Enter a tiny little organism from the Antarctic Ocean. A shrimp-like crustacean called krill. Also known as "The Magician of the Ocean" by scientists who are astonished by its wide-ranging implications for human health.

• Unlike fish, the krill is at the bottom of the food chain, meaning it doesn't eat fish and become contaminated.
• Unlike fish, its omega 3 fatty acids are in the form of phospholipids, the very building blocks of human cells. This means your cells will absorb virtually all the omega 3 nutrition in a krill oil supplement.
• The krill is the only animal source of esterified astaxanthin: an ultra-potent antioxidant.

The first and only company to exploit krill's fullest potential and to back its products with science is the manufacturer of Neptune Krill Oil (NKO™): Neptune Technologies and Bioresources.

• NKO™ is the first krill oil to provide the extraordinarily beneficial omega 3/6 ratio of 15:1. This compares to the usual fish oil ratio of 2:1.
• The astaxanthin in krill is 100% esterified, meaning the antioxidant molecules are fully metabolized by the body - a benefit found nowhere else in nature.
• NKO™ requires no preservatives and retains lasting freshness naturally.
• The ORAC antioxidant value of NKO™ is 48 times more powerful than fish oil.

In summary, krill oil is an entirely unique and superior new form of omega 3 with many unusual advantages including a rational balance of omega 3/6. These facts alone indicate that krill oil supplementation appears to have important implications for prostate health. But Dr. Tina Sampalis, Neptune's Vice President of Research and Development, sees beyond. Because krill oil is a hormone regulator, and because prostate and breast cancer are hormone-sensitive cancers, some exciting future studies using NKO™ are on the horizon.

The prostate is only one of many parts of the body supported by krill oil. Check out the rest of this site and put the health-giving goodness of krill oil to work as a daily staple starting now!