Studies suggest that a natural anti-oxidant diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables protects from the risk of most common epithelial cancers, including those of the digestive tract, and also several nondigestive neoplasms. This may have implications for both primary prevention of cancer AND getting you on track for what is perhaps a scientifically sound strategy to prevent recurrence!

Systematic analysis of data from multiple series of case-control studies in Northern Italy, between 1983 and 1998, included over 12,000 cases of 20 cancer sites and 10,000 controls. For most epithelial cancers, the risk decreased with increasing vegetable and fruit consumption, with relative risk (RR) between 0.3 and 0.7. This means a 30 to 70% REDUCED risk of cancer!

A protective effect was observed for breast, female genital tract, intestinal, urinary tract and a few other epithelial neoplasms. A number of antioxidants and other micronutrients showed an inverse relationship with cancer risk, but the main components responsible for the favourable effect of a diet rich in vegetables and fruit remain undefined. Fish tended to be another favourable diet indicator. In contrast, subjects reporting frequent red meat intake showed increased risk for several common neoplasms. Intake of whole-grain foods was related to a reduced risk of several types of cancer, particularly of the upper digestive tract. This may be due to a favourable role of fibre, but the issue is still not clear. In contrast, refined grain intake and, consequently, glycemic load and glycemic index were associated with increased risk of different types of cancer including, among others, breast and colorectal.

CONCLUSIONS: A low-risk diet for cancer in the Mediterranean would imply increasing the consumption of fruit and vegetables, as well as avoiding increasing the intakes of meat and refined carbohydrates. Further, olive oil and other unsaturated fats, which are also typical aspects of the Mediterranean diet, should be preferred to saturated ones.

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About the Author:
Dr Vasilev is a board certified gynecologic oncologist.

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