Thursday Nov 25, 2015 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study suggests that a man's dietary pattern can have a significant impact on his risk for prostate cancer.

The study shows that high intake of dairy products, red meat and serum omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids were associated with greater DNA damage.  By contrast, better adherence to Mediterranean diet, having higher serum monounsaturated fatty acids, and oleic acid were correlated with lower DNA damage.

DNA damage increases the risk of DNA mutations, which can lead to the development of prostate cancer or other cancers.

Monounsaturated fatty acids are found high in olive oil and sunflower oil and oleic acid is a type of monounsaturated fatty acid.  Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids are found high in corn oil and soybean oil.  It is well known that intake of high omega 6 and low omega 3 fatty acids is not good for health. 

The dietary patterns or the sources/types of fatty acids did not seem to have an effect on the serum levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA).

Take home message:  If you want to reduce your risk of prostate cancer, you should eat olive oil, sunflower oil, and Mediterranean diet, but not corn oil, soy bean oil, red meat and dairy products.

Karen S. Bishop, Sharon Erdrich, Nishi Karunasinghe, Dug Yeo Han, Shuotun Zhu, Amalini Jesuthasan and Lynnette R. Ferguson, An Investigation into the Association between DNA Damage and Dietary Fatty Acid in Men with Prostate Cancer, Nutrients 2015, 7(1), 405-422; doi:10.3390/nu7010405