Mediterranean diet may provide better breast cancer prognosis
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. Over the years there, has been extensive investigation in to the association between diet and breast cancer.
The Mediterranean diet is a healthy diet which is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, pulses and fish, and low in the consumption of dairy products and red meat. This diet has been associated with reduced mortality in the general population, but its effect on women with breast cancer has not been properly studied. A study published in the journal Nutrients aimed to understand if there was an association between a Mediterranean diet and breast cancer.
For this study the researchers looked through the files of 1453 women with breast cancer diagnosed between 1991 and 1994 in northern Italy. These patients were then followed up for vital status 15 years after the diagnosis. They were given questionnaires to assess their diet history, prior to diagnosis, specially their adherence to a Mediterranean diet.
On analysis, they found that people who adhered to a Mediterranean diet were associated with better breast cancer outcomes (prognosis). It is speculated that the better outcomes are due to high nutrient density, low amount of unsaturated fats and lower amounts of animal protein consumed compared with non-Mediterranean diet.
The findings of this study are encouraging and indicate that women who ate in accordance with the Mediterranean diet pattern prior to their diagnosis may have a higher chance of a better prognosis. This was found to be true regardless of their diet may have changed after their breast cancer diagnosis.
Source: Di Maso M, Dal Maso L, Augustin LSA, et al. Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Mortality after Breast Cancer. Nutrients. 2020;12(12):3649. Published 2020 Nov 27. Source Link: Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Mortality after Breast Cancer – PubMed (nih.gov)
Know the cancer – Breast cancer treatment
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