Med diet 'can cut cancer risk'
Updated on 02 July 2008
People who adopt just two elements of a Mediterranean diet can cut their risk of developing cancer by 12%, researchers have said.
A diet rich in olive oil, fruits, vegetables and oily fish is already known to protect against heart disease.
But now experts writing in the British Journal of Cancer have found it also cuts the risk of developing any type of cancer.
People who adopted the diet at least six ways cut their risk of cancer by 22%. But even those who adopted just two elements could cut their chances of developing the disease by 12%.
Examples of this could be by substantially decreasing meat intake while substantially increasing intake of legumes like beans, peas and lentils; or by substantially increasing vegetable intake and using olive oil instead of butter.
The biggest effect, resulting in a 9% reduction in risk, appeared to be from consuming more good fats, like those found in olive oil, than bad fats, like those found in chips, biscuits and cakes.
The researchers found that association between diet and decreased cancer risk was stronger for women than men.
Lead author Dr Dimitrios Trichopoulos, professor of cancer prevention and epidemiology at Harvard University, pointed out there was no one 'superfood' in the diet.
He said: "Our results show just how important diet is in cancer risk... 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."
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