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flax and cancer



 
 
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  #1  
Old December 8th 05, 03:19 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.health,alt.med.veterinary
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Default 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  
Old December 9th 05, 04:08 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.health,alt.med.veterinary
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Default 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  
Old December 9th 05, 11:56 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.health,alt.med.veterinary
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Default 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  
Old December 9th 05, 01:02 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.health,alt.med.veterinary
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Default 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  
Old December 9th 05, 01:30 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.health,alt.med.veterinary
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Default flax and cancer

http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxifi...t/flaxseed.htm

Regards

  #6  
Old December 9th 05, 01:40 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.health,alt.med.veterinary
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Default 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  
Old December 10th 05, 02:19 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.health,alt.med.veterinary
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Default 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  
Old December 10th 05, 02:03 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.health,alt.med.veterinary
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Default 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
 




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