Close Banner

This ad is displayed using third party content and we do not control its accessibility features.

New Study Finds Mediterranean Diet May Lower Breast Cancer Risk

Author:

Hannah Frye

July 27, 2023

Assistant Beauty & Health Editor

By Hannah Frye

Assistant Beauty & Health Editor

Hannah Frye is the Assistant Beauty Editor at mindbodygreen. She has a B.S. in journalism and a minor in women’s, gender, and queer studies from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Hannah has written across lifestyle sections including health, wellness, sustainability, personal development, and more.

a beautiful senior aged woman having a meal at home

Image by Ivan Solis / Stocksy

July 27, 2023

Right this minute, plenty of researchers are searching for connections between dietary patterns and chronic illnesses. It's important to remember that these studies are just one piece of the puzzle, not a definitive tie between cause and effect. However, knowledge is power, and valid scientific findings certainly deserve airtime—particularly when the practices they highlight are relatively easy and cost-effective to implement. That's why we're here to discuss a recent study of the potential link between Mediterranean dietary patterns and breast cancer.

The Mediterranean diet may lower breast cancer risk

A recent case-controlled study conducted in Iran and published on Frontiers in Nutrition found a significant inverse association between the Mediterranean diet and breast cancer. In this research, individuals with the highest tertile of the Mediterranean diet score compared with those in the lowest tertile were 57% less likely to have breast cancer 1. This relationship was most significant among postmenopausal women.

Previous studies on the association between diet and breast cancer are mostly from Western populations where data from Middle East countries was not often included, hence why this study specifically set out to gather data on Iranian women, as the prevalence of breast cancer in Middle East countries is high 2, yet the analytic data available is quite low.

The classic Mediterranean diet focuses on eating real, whole foods and is modeled after countries lining the Mediterranean Sea. It centers fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, olive oil, herbs, and spices and limits processed foods, red meat, and added sugars.

For this study, researchers enrolled 350 women with new cases of breast cancer (including stages I-IV) and 700 women to represent a control group with equal socioeconomic and age status.

What supplements are right for you? Take our 90-second quiz

A nutritionist then evaluated dietary intake using a 106-item Willett-format semi-quantitative dish-based food frequency questionnaire (SQ-FFQ), which was specifically created and validated for the Iranian population to create scores based on how closely participants follow the Mediterranean diet.

They computed scores of the Mediterranean diet based on nine diet components, including servings of fish, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts; ratio of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) to saturated fatty acids (SFAs); and negative components, including grains, dairy, meats (including poultry and red meat) and processed meat. They then added those scores together to get the total Mediterranean diet value.

"Our findings were aligned with the findings from a case-control study conducted by Turati et al. in Switzerland in which adherence to the Mediterranean diet was inversely associated with the risk of breast cancer 3," researchers said. Regional studies like these are important, as dietary patterns vary greatly from country to country.

The why

You're probably wondering: What makes the Mediterranean diet so special? Well, the exact mechanisms contributing to the possible prevention of breast cancer are not totally clear. However, researchers note this protective effect may be due to the following:

Anti-inflammatory properties: The Mediterranean diet contains foods that are high in MUFAs and omega-3 fatty acids 4, both of which have anti-inflammatory properties. "Inflammation is an important risk factor in the incidence of breast cancer 5," researchers say.
Estrogen support: The Mediterranean diet is also rich in compounds that are known to support estrogen metabolic pathways and have estrogen-modulatory effects, which are protective against breast cancer, researchers say. This includes dietary fiber 6, flavonoids, lignans, and resveratrol 7.
Antioxidants: Finally, the Mediterranean diet is chock-full of antioxidants from fruits and vegetables, which also may have protective effects against breast cancer 8.

More studies are needed to confirm these findings across different populations and dive deeper into what, exactly, makes this diet potentially cancer-protective.

This research doesn't mean following the Mediterranean diet will prevent breast cancer point blank. However, it does further support the power of eating whole foods, lean proteins, and healthy fats for overall health.

The takeaway

A recent study found that individuals who closely follow a Mediterranean diet were 57% less likely to have breast cancer. Researchers suspect the diet's anti-inflammatory, estrogen-supportive, and antioxidant properties could be driving this impact. Here's a full guide to the benefits of the Mediterranean diet and an example menu, if you're interested in giving it a go.