According to CNN, doctors are now warning against the overconsumption of ultra-processed and fast food due to the use of cooking oils. A new study found that certain cooking oils, often used in the frying of fast food or the manufacturing of processed food, can cause colon cancer risk in young people.
The research revealed that seed oils such as corn, peanut, soybean, safflower, and sunflower oils are high in omega-6 fatty acids and reduce the body’s ability to fight cancer cells. The frequent consumption of junk food causes an omega-6 to omega-3 imbalance. Since omega-3 holds anti-inflammatory and tumor-fighting properties, it ultimately raises the risks of cancer.
Certain seed oils used in processed food may heighten risk of colon cancer
The study found that cooking oils such as corn, peanut, soybean, safflower, and sunflower oils contain linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid, which can potentially cause a risk of cancer. Therefore, when individuals consume a diet consisting of such oils regularly, it causes an omega-6 to omega-3 imbalance. Previously, a 2015 research found that the linoleic level in many Americans’ bodies had risen by 136% in fat tissue over the past 50 years.
To explain the stance, Dr. Timothy Yeatman, a senior co-author of the study, said, “There are mutations every day in the GI (gastrointestinal) tract.” These omega-3 “molecules or mediators” then assist the human immune system to immediately quash these mutations. However, Yeatman later stated that if an individual subjects their body to “years of a chronic inflammatory milieu” from an imbalance of omega-6s, it becomes easy for the mutation to “take hold and harder for the body to fight it.”
Internal medicine professor Dr. Bill Harris of the Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota, argued, “It’s the lack of omega-3 fatty acids that’s the problem.” Dr. Harris pointed out that Americans have “few omega-3s because they dislike fatty fish.” The professor also noted that fatty fish such as mackerel, herring, and sardines are a great source of omega-3.
Researchers are also urging people to trade cooking oils for omega-3 fatty acids such as olive and avocado oil, which help the body fight cancer cells. Other options to boost omega-3 intake can also be anchovies, salmon, sea bass, bluefin tuna, trout, oysters, and mussels.
