Mediterranean Diet Lowers Gastric Cancer Risk. Part 2
In July 2010, Trichopoulou et al reported a lower risk of breast cancer in menopausal women with greater adherence to a Mediterranean diet. Their study followed 14,807 women for almost 10 years, during which time 240 participants were diagnosed with breast cancer. Diet was assessed and scored in respect to conformity to a Mediterranean diet. A marginally significant inverse association was seen in postmenopausal women, with a 22% decrease in risk for every 2-point difference in scoring. (HR=0.78 for every 2 points; 95% CI: 0.62, 0.98; P for interaction by menopausal status = 0.05).
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A 2008 meta-analysis looked at how the Mediterranean diet affected overall mortality. When data from 8 cohorts (514,816 subjects and 33,576 deaths) were evaluated, researchers found that a 2-point increase in the diet adherence score reduced risk of mortality by about 9% (RR 0.91; 95% CI: 0.89–0.94), mortality from cancer by 6% and incidence of Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease by 13%.
Cancer isn’t the only disease benefited by following the Mediterranean diet. High adherence is associated with a 40% decreased risk for coronary heart disease. A 1-point increase in relative Mediterranean diet score was associated with a 6% reduced risk of CHD.6 It is fascinating how much these diet scores have been quantified. A June 2009 paper tells us that for each unit increase in a Mediterranean diet adherence score, C-reactive protein decreased by 3.1% (95% CI: 0.5–5.7%) and IL-6 dropped by 1.9% (95% CI: 0.5–3.4%).
When we look at any of these Mediterranean studies, the men and women who eat foods closest to the Mediterranean diet are about 20% less likely to die over the course of the study from heart disease, cancer, or any other cause.
When we look at any of these Mediterranean studies, the men and women who eat foods closest to the Mediterranean diet are about 10–20% less likely to die over the course of the study from heart disease, cancer, or any other cause.
Perhaps the most intriguing of these studies is one that appeared in June 2009 in the British Medical Journal in which Trichopoulou et al looked at data from the Greek Cohort of the EPIC study, following 23,349 men and women not previously diagnosed with cancer, coronary heart disease, or diabetes and compared Mediterranean diet adherence to mortality from any cause. A 13% decrease in mortality was seen for every 2-point increase in diet adherence score. Through careful statistical analysis these researchers were able to tell us how much each component of the diet contributed to the overall effect seen in their study:
Moderate ethanol consumption: 23.5%,
Low consumption of meat and meat products: 16.6%
High vegetable consumption: 16.2%
High fruit and nut consumption: 11.2%
High monounsaturated to saturated lipid ratio: 10.6%
High legume consumption: 9.7%
In this particular study the attributes of high cereal consumption and low dairy consumption had only minimal effects on morality. Surprisingly high fish and seafood consumption appeared to cause a non-significant increase in mortality. These later findings are to date anomalies, and fish and seafood are still considered valuable and beneficial attributes of the diet.