A 30-year study carried out on over 6,000 Swedish men has revealed that eating fatty fish could significantly reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer.
Researchers from the <STRONG>Karolinska Institute, in Stockholm, explained in The Lancet medical journal that participants in the study were asked to record their dietary and physical habits. Over the course of the next 30 years, 466 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 340 have died from the disease.
Scientists now believe that the correlation between fish rich in omega-3 acids and long-term health is important, discovering that those men who ate no fish had a 100-150% greater chance of developing the cancer cells than those who including fish in their diet regularly.
Dr Paul Terry, who led the research team, commented: “Our study was done in Sweden, a country with traditionally high consumption of fatty fish from Northern waters, which contain high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. Since few dietary and other modifiable factors seem to be associated with lower risk of prostate cancer, our results may indicate an important means by which this disease might be prevented.”
Fish that are rich in the essential fatty acids include salmon, herring, and mackerel.
