Foods rich in omega-3 fats, especially those in fish and seafood, may reduce your risk of getting colon cancer.

Scientists and students at the University of California Irvine will be celebrating the first annual International Omega-3 Awareness Day with speakers, activities, and special music from 3 to 6:30 in the Student Center.

At the 2009 AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research conference, Sangmi Kim, PhD reported on research that found people who ate the most foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids had almost a 40 percent reduced risk of colon cancer.  While Kim found the risk reduction in the 1,500 whites his team studied, there was no similar benefit for 370 African Americans.

Kim and his colleagues asked 1,509 whites and 369 African Americans, half of whom had colon cancer, about the foods they typically ate in the past twelve months.  They found that compared to the 25 percent who ate the least omega-3 rich foods, the top 25 percent had a 39 percent reduction in colon cancer in the distal bowel — the section of colon closest to the rectum.

He said,

An increase in dietary intake of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, which mainly come from fish and seafood, may be beneficial in the prevention of distal large bowel cancer.