Mediterranean Diet may help prevent Prostate
Cancer
Newswise
— We recently reviewed evidence relating
diet and prostate cancer, suggesting that a
traditional Cretan Mediterranean style diet
based on a variety of plant foods (fruits,
vegetables, wholegrain cereals, nuts and
legumes), olive oil as the main source of
fat, low intake of red meat, moderate to low
intake of dairy foods, moderate to high
intake of fish and moderate intake of wine,
mostly consumed with meals, may be helpful
in reducing prostate cancer risk.
Importantly, the
Mediterranean diet has other health benefits
that further support its widespread
adoption.
A recent meta-analysis of
prospective cohort studies using an a priori
score to assess adherence to a Mediterranean
diet found that stronger adherence was
associated with reduced all cause,
cardiovascular and cancer mortality, as well
as decreased incidence of Parkinson’s and
Alzheimer’s diseases (1).
Two intervention studies have
supported the benefits of a Mediterranean
style diet on metabolic risk factors (2)
(3).
In a Spanish study, men and
women with elevated levels of cardiovascular
risk factors were randomized to either of
two “Mediterranean” diets and provided with
either olive oil or nuts, or to a control
low fat diet.
After 3 months the
Mediterranean diet groups had lower mean
plasma glucose, systolic blood pressure and
total/HDL cholesterol ratio than the control
group (2).
Italian adults with the
Metabolic Syndrome were randomized to a
“Mediterranean” diet or a “prudent” diet,
both with similar macronutrient composition.
The “Mediterranean” diet was
associated with greater improvements in
markers of vascular risk and endothelial
function than the control group (3).
It should be noted however
that in both studies the “Mediterranean”
diet groups received more nutrition
education than the control groups.
The Lyon Heart Study
demonstrated that a modified Cretan diet low
in butter and meats, and high in fish,
fruits and enriched with α-linolenic acid
from canola oil was more effective than a
‘prudent’ diet in the secondary prevention
of coronary events and overall mortality
(4). We have also shown that a Cretan style
diet reduced HbA1c from a mean of 7.1% (95%
CI: 6.5-7.7) to 6.8% (95% CI: 6.3-7.3)
(p=0.012), in people with type 2 diabetes
(unpublished data).
Simopoulos (5) notes that the
traditional Greek diet resembles the
Paleolithic diet in terms of fibre,
antioxidants, saturated and monounsaturated
fat, thus is consistent with human
evolution.
While traditional diets must
reflect the regionally available foods, the
characteristics of the traditional Greek
diet can be applied in many countries,
notwithstanding the likely effect of
environment and growing methods on the
nutrient composition of plant and animal
foods.
The evidence suggests that a
traditional Greek or Cretan style diet is
consistent with what humans have evolved to
consume and may protect against common
chronic diseases, including prostate cancer.
