In the last few years, some very important research has revealed a major underlying cause of cancer and how to prevent it. This new information also provides new answers to our present epidemic of heart disease. To begin this discussion, first a brief review of the essential fatty acids. They’re called essential because, if we don’t get them in our diet, we will eventually get sick and die.
There are two essential fatty acids, Linoleic acid and Alpha Linolenic Acid. Linoleic Acid and its derivatives make up the essential fatty acids referred to as the Omega 6 family, and Alpha Linolenic Acid and its derivatives make up the Omega 3 family. The media is full of information about the Omega 3 derivatives (Eicosapentanoic acid and Docosahexanoic acid), but they don’t tell you that, if you get adequate amounts of the parent oil, your body will make all the derivatives it needs exactly when and where it needs them. The only exception to this is when there is a rare enzyme deficiency that hampers the conversion process, and that can usually be managed by increasing the intake of that parent essential oil.
The Omega 3s
These products are the stars of the media circus around the essential fatty acids (EFAs). It seems like everyone is selling a superior fish oil these days. Although these EFAs are especially important in growing children for healthy brain development through the formative years, they are much less important in the adult. If we keep in mind that the brain is 60% fat by weight, having adequate EFAs for brain development is obvious. In infants and children, the brain is in a state of rapid growth and development, whereas in adults, the need for these Omega 3 EFAs decreases enormously. Although all our organs and tissues need the Omega 3 EFAs, compared to the requirements for brain healing and development, the need is small.
The Omega 6s
These EFAs are the real unheralded heros, but they are in such abundance in the diet that they get short shrift in the literature. Unfortunately for us, our FDA has allowed food manufacturers to process these Omega 6 EFAs to eliminate spoilage and increase shelf life. Many manufactured foods that contain processed EFAs can sit on a shelf for years without spoiling: the Twinky is a good example. The Omega 6 family of EFAs are the most abundant in our diet, and now we know that they are also the most important. It’s the adulteration/processing of these Omega 6 EFAs that plays such a huge role in cancer.
The Ratios Tell The Story
What really matters is the ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3, not only in the brain and nervous system, but in all of the body organs and tissues. In the brain and nervous system, the ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 EFAs is one to one. In every other organ and tissue, the Omega 6′s are much more important. In muscle, which makes up about half of our adult solid weight, the necessary healthy ratio is between seven and eight to one, Omega 6 to Omega 3. In lining tissue, that would be skin, sinuses, lungs, stomach, small & large intestines, urogenital system, joints and the lining of the blood vessels, etc., the ratio is one thousand to one, Omega 6 to Omega 3. That’s correct, one thousand to one, Omega 6 to Omega 3.
Where’s The Fat?
Of course we know that fat can be found in adipose tissue, but that’s storage fat, and when was the last time you heard of a cancer in adipose tissue? Exactly! So where are the rest of these EFAs found, and what’s their job?
The cell membrane surrounds the cell and then convolutes about throughout the cell contributing to its shape and size. This cell membrane structure is made up of an outer coating of protein, a middle layer of EFAs, and an inner layer of protein. That’s kind of like a sandwich with fat in the middle and protein on the outside. Fat also plays many other important roles, but for this discussion, the EFAs that make up the middle layer of the cell wall structure are the ones of interest.
These middle layer EFAs are the cells oxygen magnets. Otto Warburg, M.D., Ph.D., researched, discovered and published his findings regarding a major underlying cause of cancer as far back as the 1950s. This work is popular in Germany where he practiced and did his research, but is just coming to the attention of the establishment in this country. Warburg demonstrated unequivocally that lining tissue cells deprived of oxygen eventually begin to create their energy by combusting more sugar than oxygen, by the process of glycolysis. In time, this leads to a cancer cell. Although this sugar-cancer connection was established over half a century ago, most oncologists are still unaware of this research. Simply put, cancer lives on sugar.
Oxygen in the lungs is drawn through the lining of the lungs, the lining of the tiny capillaries in the lungs, and into the hemoglobin molecule within the red blood cell (RBC). It’s safe to say that this hemoglobin molecule has a very powerful attraction for oxygen. When that RBC reaches the lining tissue and again is squeezing through a narrow capillary, something must have a greater attraction for that oxygen molecule than hemoglobin to pull the oxygen from the RBC and into the lining tissue cell. The something that has this tremendous attraction for oxygen is fat. The EFAs that make up the middle layer of the cell wall structure are what pull the oxygen from the RBC, and in this case we’re talking about the Omega 6 EFAs, mostly the parent oil, Linoleic Acid.
The Crux Of The Problem
Once food is processed to keep its shelf life, the fat has been changed into a different form that no longer has an attraction for oxygen. One of the processes, and the most utilized until recently, was the hydrogenation of fat, converting healthy fat into trans fatty acids that have no oxygen attracting ability. Now that the consumer is becoming aware of the damage done by trans fatty acids causing cancer and heart disease, the big food processors have devised other means to preserve shelf life. Unfortunately, anything that interferes with the oxygen attracting ability of fat will be just as dangerous as trans fatty acids/hydrogenated fats.
How Big Is The Problem?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), eighty-five percent (85%) of the cancer found in the industrialized world is lining tissue cancer, or Adenocarcinoma. They make up the bulk of the breast, prostate, lung, sinus, mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine and colon cancers, as well as most cancers of the urogenital system. Before World War II, when consumers ate mostly fresh foods and few processed foods, cancer was a much smaller problem. In fact, before the Second World War, relatively few people died of cancer. By 1971, the government declared a war on cancer, and now cancer has surpassed heart disease as the number one killer in the USA. Obviously, medical science isn’t winning this war, so if we want to protect our families, we will have to take action for ourselves.
What’s The Solution?
Well, there isn’t just one solution to reducing cancer risk, but a big contributor is reducing the processed fat we get in our diets. Given time and a good supplemental dosage of the parent essential oils the body will replace the damaged fat that has been incorporated into our lining tissue cell walls with healthy Omega 6 EFAs that have oxygen attracting capacity. This can take many months but is worth the effort. This is, very possibly, the biggest nutritional breakthrough since I started studying and practicing nutrition over forty years ago.
What’s The Test?
Obviously, we need a test to let us know we have accomplished our goal. Most medical tests are expensive, this one isn’t. Just pay attention to your poop. That’s right, if your stools float, it means a little bit of fat is getting through your gut and therefore not being absorbed. I usually suggest starting at four YES parent essential oil capsules a day for three months. If your stools haven’t begun to float, you increase the dosage to five capsules per day for another month. If they still don’t float you increase the dosage to six capsules per day for another month, etc. Once you get floating stools, you stay at that dosage for a month before cutting the dosage back by one capsule per day for a month. If after a month, your stools are still floating you cut back another capsule per day for another month. If your stools start sinking again, you simply add back one YES parent essential oil capsule until you once again have floaters. This way each person is adjusting his/her dosage to individual need.
Who’s Responsible?
Most of this work is the result of impeccable research by Professor Brian Peskin. Brian Peskin can be Googled. His books are the talk of the alternative/complimentary medical community and can be comprehended by most people with a solid high school education.
Availability
YES parent essential oils are available through Preventics and can be found on our price list, the order order blank and on the online order form – listed as Parent Essential Fatty Acids under Essential Oils & Fatty Acids. This product is still patent protected, so unfortunately Preventics is unable to have it made at a considerable discount. The YES parent essential oil supplement supplies 120 capsules (725 mg each), for $49.95. Hopefully, in time, our purchases will become large enough to get a significant discount from the manufacturer, which we will then be able to pass on to you.
