Mediterranean diet supplemented with olive oil appears to protect against breast cancer
18. 09. 2015 | ecancer.org
There might be a beneficial effect of a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil in the primary prevention of breast cancer. Results of a randomised clinical trial have been recently published in JAMA Internal Medicine [1].
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Breast cancer is the second most common cancer type worldwide, with about 1.7 million cases diagnosed each year. Its incidence is increasing in many countries, and this has been linked to several elements of the ‘Western’ lifestyle although the only clear epidemiological evidence is with alcohol consumption.
Historically, rates of breast cancer have been observed to be significantly lower in Mediterranean countries than in northern Europe or in North America. This has led to suggestions that a traditional ‘Mediterranean’ diet rich in vegetables, fruit, nuts, fish and olive oil may protect against this disease. This type of diet has already been shown to protect against cardiovascular disease, and in one previous study participants allocated to a Mediterranean diet had a 61% lower risk of any type of cancer than those on a standard ‘healthy’ one. However, there have until now been no randomised controlled trials of the effect of the diet on breast cancer incidence.
Read the whole article at ecancer.org
Reference
- Toledo E, Salas-Salvadó J, Donat-Vargas C, et al. Mediterranean Diet and Invasive Breast Cancer Risk Among Women at High Cardiovascular Risk in the PREDIMED Trial: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Internal Medicine 2015. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.4838
Keywords: Mediterranean diet, olive oil, breast cancer
