If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
flax and cancer
I thought I'd post this here, it is unlikely to make it past the
moderators in the caninecancer email list ... I looked into the question of flax for dogs with cancer, and I thought I'd share what I found. There hasn't been research testing diets with flax for dogs with cancer. So, nobody can really know. As you probably know there's been research showing fish oil, added arginine and really low carbohydrate helped dogs with cancer. I've used the Hill's N/D diet for dogs with cancer as a guideline a lot, for what to aim at in terms of carbohydrate consumption, how much arginine to add, etc. There's a lot of info at their website, http://www.hillspet.com I don't just buy the N/D because it's too high in protein for my dog - he has low kidney function and his BUN and creatinine went way up when I tried feeding him just a little more protein. There's a lot of research on Medline about anti-cancer effects of flax in people. It might be omega-3 fats in it, it might be the lignans in flax. You can look up research abstracts in Medline - at http://www.pubmed.com So there was some question about whether flax would be anti-cancer in dogs too, the question is whether they make EPA/DHA from the omega-3 fat in flax oil. This isn't necessarily an important point, because flax might be beneficial in other ways too - for example, the omega-3 oils compete with omega-6 oils, so it's like eating less omega-6. Anyway, there was one research study on this, and probably only one. http://www.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/128/12/2641S Dietary Flaxseed in Dogs Results in Differential Transport and Metabolism of (n-3) Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids -- Bauer et al. 128 (12): 2641 -- Journal of Nutrition The study showed that flax raised blood concentrations of EPA and DPA in dogs, as well as other omega-3 fats. Flax didn't raised the blood concentration of DHA. DPA is an omega-3 fat that is a precursor to DHA. They said that DPA is converted to DHA in the brain in dogs, but maybe not in the liver, because the blood concentration of DHA didn't go up. Flax also *lowered* blood concentration of various omega-6 fats in the dogs' blood, over time - including arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid is a very pro-inflammatory fat that's made from omega-6 fats in the diet. It sounds like flax oil is changing fats in the blood in a way that you might figure would be anti-cancer - flax means more anti-inflammatory fats in the blood and less pro-inflammatory fats. But, if DHA is important in fighting cancer in dogs, probably another source of it should be used, like fish oil. A couple of people have said their oncologists don't recommend flax for dogs, even that flax makes cancer worse. There doesn't seem to be support for this. All I can think is that I've heard eating a lot of polyunsaturated fat may be oxidizing and one should have vitamin E at the same time, as an anti-oxidant. The oncologists might have had some other reason for not recommending flax, it doesn't necessarily mean they think it's carcinogenic. Like, the fact that fish oil has been shown to help with cancer in dogs and flax hasn't. I don't think based on all this that people should avoid flax in dogfood for dogs with cancer. Maybe, one shouldn't use too much of it. I feed my dog both fish oil and flax (along with a ton of other supplements). The Hill's K/D kidney diet has flax rather than fish oil in it - there's research on flax being anti-inflammatory for human kidneys. I don't know whether it's better to give a dog more fish oil, past a certain point. If you give more than a certain amount, it could be that the EPA/DHA just ends up being burned for energy, not used in an anti-inflammatory way. It would be very expensive to use fish oil caps as the main source of fat in a dog's diet. But the Hill's N/D anticancer diet does seem to use fish oil as the main source of fat (I don't know what it costs Laura |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
flax and cancer
Laura,
Flax is not the best choice in cancer treatment, which is why fish oil is used in Prescription Diet n/d. The problem is that the amount of fish oil you would have to add to equal what is in the n/d diet is huge - nearly 3% of the entire diet. The other problem is that it is not just the addition of Omega 3's but the removal of Omega 6's which increase tumor mets. Prescription Diet n/d is very unique food and difficult to create on ones own. Protein is only an issue in renal failure because it beings with it the phosphorus which is the primary problem. You might want to contact Dr. Rebecca Remillard, she is a boarded veterinary nutritionist and can create a diet specific to your needs. You should be able to find her on Google. Prescription Diet n/d contains 38% protein, 0.62% phosphorus or 116 mgs/100kcals Prescription diet k/d contains 13.8% protein, 0.20% phosphorus or 45 mgs/100kcals |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
flax and cancer
Steve Crane ) wrote:
Flax is not the best choice in cancer treatment, which is why fish oil is used in Prescription Diet n/d. Flax hasn't been proved as anti-cancer for dogs, that is what it boils down to. It's pretty anti-cancer in humans. The problem is that the amount of fish oil you would have to add to equal what is in the n/d diet is huge - nearly 3% of the entire diet. According to the Hill's website, the N/D has 1.35 gm of omega-3 / 100 cal. My dog eats about 1500 cal/day, that works out to 20 gm omega-3/day, or 27 gm of fish oil/day. I've been giving him 20 gm of fish oil/day, so that's close - and flax to make up the rest of the fat. The other problem is that it is not just the addition of Omega 3's but the removal of Omega 6's which increase tumor mets. According to that paper I posted, adding flax decreases the concentration of a lot of omega-6 fats in the blood. Protein is only an issue in renal failure because it beings with it the phosphorus which is the primary problem. Protein raises the BUN and the creatinine somewhat, and makes him feel bad. He stopped shaking on a low-protein diet, for example. I've heard they can start vomiting, lose their appetite, lose energy with a high BUN. High protein is bad for him all by itself. Egg whites have very little phosphorus, but they still raised his BUN much too much. No way he can eat N/D. You might want to contact Dr. Rebecca Remillard, she is a boarded veterinary nutritionist and can create a diet specific to your needs. You should be able to find her on Google. Prescription Diet n/d contains 38% protein, 0.62% phosphorus or 116 mgs/100kcals 29% protein, it looks like. Their web site says 7 gms protein/100 kcal, 4.15 cal/gram in protein. Laura |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
flax and cancer
"Steve Crane" wrote in message oups.com... The other problem is that it is not just the addition of Omega 3's but the removal of Omega 6's which increase tumor mets. ...........Omegas are processed by the same metabolic pathway. If you up the omega 3s, it is used preferentially, thus some omega 6s don't get used. buglady take out the dog before replying |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
flax and cancer
|
#6
|
|||
|
|||
flax and cancer
Adding flax reduces the level of arachidonic acid in the blood in dogs,
also. Arachidonic acid seems to promote cancer. Dogs and people make it from omega-6 fats in the diet, and also arachidonic acid is in some foods. I don't know if there are studies that directly relate consuming a lot of arachidonic acid to making cancer worse. So, reducing the arachidonic acid in a dog's blood may be a good effect of flax. Laura |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
flax and cancer
Lacustral wrote: Steve Crane ) wrote: According to the Hill's website, the N/D has 1.35 gm of omega-3 / 100 cal. My dog eats about 1500 cal/day, that works out to 20 gm omega-3/day, or 27 gm of fish oil/day. I've been giving him 20 gm of fish oil/day, so that's close - and flax to make up the rest of the fat. Yes that is close. You're giving far more than most people who attempt to do this. Most assume that adding a couple capsules will fix the problem. The other problem is that it is not just the addition of Omega 3's but the removal of Omega 6's which increase tumor mets. According to that paper I posted, adding flax decreases the concentration of a lot of omega-6 fats in the blood. I'm not aware of flax seed "removing" Omega 6's, while it's true they can "dilute" the ratio, if the total number of N6's are present, you really can't get them out, regardless of adding flax seed. In Prescription Diet n/d the ratio of N6:N3 is a critical factor. n/d maintains an inverse ratio - one of only two foods in the world that do that. A normal N6:N3 ratio might be 10-20:1 whereas n/d has a ratio of 0.3:1 less than 1:1. (The other food that does this is Prescription Diet j/d for osteoarthritis) You might want to contact Dr. Rebecca Remillard, she is a boarded veterinary nutritionist and can create a diet specific to your needs. You should be able to find her on Google. Best of luck - you have a very tough situation and unfortunately there isn't a commercial food that will work right for you. I left the blurb in on Dr. Remillard, as I think she would be very helpful. I don't think she charges a huge fee, but I don't know what it is. |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
flax and cancer
Steve Crane ) wrote:
I'm not aware of flax seed "removing" Omega 6's That's what they did according to the research study I posted. They fed dogs flax and measured the concentration of various omega-6 fats in their blood, after various times on the diet. One omega-6 fat did go up, but one of the really important pro-inflammatory and pro-cancer fats, arachidonic acid, went down on the flax-supplemented diet - as well as some other omega-6 fats. Linoleic and linolenic acid - omega-6 and omega-3 fats - are supposed to compete for the desaturase enzymes. So if you eat more linolenic acid, linoleic acid is less converted into arachidonic acid. Anyway I'm feeding him large amounts of flax oil, together with all the fish oil. The flax has about a 3-4 to 1 omega-3 to omega-6 ratio. I don't know if I'm overloading him on polyunsaturated fat with all the flax. Laura |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|