The Mediterranean Diet May Help Fight Breast Cancer

According to a new study recently conducted in Spain, people who eat the Mediterranean diet can add “helps with breast cancer” to the list of attributes of this delicious and healthy regiment. Research tells us that women who consume extra-virgin olive oil are as much as 68% less likely to suffer from breast cancer.

The study included over 4000 post-menopausal women who had never had breast cancer before, and they asked them to choose one of three available diets. A Mediterranean diet with extra-virgin olive oil, a Mediterranean diet rich in nuts, and a control diet, where women were simply asked to reduce the amount of fat they would eat. Five years later, we have some concrete results.

Women with the olive oil were the least likely to develop breast cancer. There was a slight reduction in risk for the women in the nut group, but not as nearly effective as the olive oil one. So, what’s the deal with extra-virgin olive oil? Well, according to Dr. Miguel Martinez-Gonzalez from the University of Navarra, they are rich in these things called polyphenols.

Polyphenols have shown that they have anti-cancer efforts, and have been additionally tested ever since. However, one should not think that they will be cancer-free solely thanks to this special olive oil consumption – balance is key. The Mediterranean diet is rich in plants, olive oil, and fish, and low in dairy and meat; it’s quite beneficial for your overall health and looks, but not just that, it also reduces risk of heart disease and other cancers.

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