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Yet another study related to the Mediterranean diet hails its beneficial effects on health. This time, it talks about reducing the risk of womb cancer.
The perks of eating healthy and having a balanced diet that ensures the necessary intake of antioxidants, fibers, unsaturated fatty acids, protein and a sufficient caloric amount have long been discussed.
The Mediterranean diet seems to encapsulate all things good and healthy. Against this background, the Istituto di Ricerche Faramacologiche from Italy set on a quest to find out how the Mediterranean diet impacts the risk of developing endometrial cancer for women.
For the U.S. female population endometrial cancer or womb cancer is the most common for the reproductive organs. Other nations across the globe are facing the same issue.
Could one diet solve it all?
According to Cristina Bosetti, lead author of the study, yes. The research is welcome in helping understand how we stack better chances against cancer by making informed and aware choices on a daily basis.
A group of 5,000 women picked from random Italian and Swiss cantons was included in the study. The team of researchers followed how closely the women kept the diet and how many had developed uterine cancer. Data was also retrieved from case-control studies from 1983 to 2006.
To establish the parameters of the research, the Mediterranean diet was split into nine food groups. There were vegetable, fruits and nuts, legumes, and potatoes and cereal. The others were split as follows: fish, unsaturated fatty acids, alcohol, meat, dairy products. The last three groups were accompanied by the low level consumption label.
Based on how often and how many of these groups represented a constant preoccupation, the research team was led to draw the conclusion that the more all of the recommended categories represent a daily intake, the lower the risk of developing womb cancer.
Women who respected the indications for all nine categories regularly were found to have reduced the risk of being diagnosed with endometrial cancer by 57 percent.
Women who only adhered to six of the categories had decreased the risk by 46 percent. And for those women who chose to consume only five, the risk reduced by 34 percent. Lastly it was observed that for the group whose diet included less than five features of the Mediterranean diet presented no significant decrease.
Other medically researched benefits of the Mediterranean diet
Since the beginning of this year alone, a variety of studies have been issued to prove the quality of life heralded by the Mediterranean diet.
Among them, it looks like having as much healthy food as possible, with as little processing as possible dramatically reduces the risks for chronic kidney disease.
Better looks and better health condition all the way to old-age? Yes, the Mediterranean diet can do that as well. It has been boasting slower aging effects.
Just recently, a study revealed that in the elderly, adding 30 extra grams of nuts per day to the Mediterranean diet, or three spoons of good quality olive oil, significantly improves cognitive functions.
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