Mediterranean Dipping Fights Cancer
July 2nd 2008
New research suggests that consuming just two aspects of the typical "Mediterranean" foods may significantly cut overall cancer risk. 
Dr Dimitrios Trichopoulos and colleagues at Harvard University, USA, studied 26,000 Greek men and women for eight years. Daily diet was recorded by questionnaire, and rated on a nine-point scale for adherence to a traditional Mediterranean pattern.
Analysis showed that eating more monounsaturated fats such as those in olive oil, than saturated fats such as those in chips, biscuits and cakes, could lower overall cancer risk by nine per cent. The team also found that making any two changes to the diet, for example eating more peas, beans and lentils and less meat, may reduce the risk by 12 per cent.
"Our results show just how important diet is in cancer risk," said Dr Trichopoulos. "Of the 26,000 people we studied, those who closely followed a traditional Mediterranean diet were overall less likely to develop cancer.
"Although eating more of one food group alone didn’t significantly change a person’s risk of cancer, adjusting one’s overall dietary habits towards the traditional Mediterranean pattern had an important effect."
Results are published in the British Journal of Cancer. Sara Hiom of Cancer Research UK commented: "This research shows that there are a number of things you can do, and that there is no one ’superfood’ that can stop you developing the disease."
In the study, a reduced cancer risk was linked to higher consumption of fruit, vegetables, legumes (peas, beans, lentils), cereals, and a moderate-to-high consumption of fish.
Conformity to traditional Mediterranean diet and cancer incidence: the Greek EPIC cohort. British Journal of Cancer. 2008. 99(1).
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