Women who adhere to a Mediterranean diet could lower their risk of developing uterine or womb cancer, the findings of a new study suggest.
Cristina Bosetti, a researcher at the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche in Milan, Italy and the lead author of the study, explained that adapting a healthy and balanced diet could significantly lower the women’s risk of uterine cancer.
Bosetti added that the study adds confirmation on how important lifestyle choices are, from what we choose to eat to the exercises we do every day.
For the new study, Bosetti and her team analyzed the dietary habits of more than 5,000 women from Italy in order to see how many of them followed a Mediterranean diet.
The Mediterranean diet, which is considered one of the healthiest diets, consists mainly of fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, nuts, cereals, moderate alcohol consumption and olive oil.
The diet does not include red meat or dairy products, or allows it very seldom.
According to what the researchers found, the women who consumed seven of the nine important components that make up the Mediterranean diet had a 57% lower risk of developing cancer of the uterus.
The women participants who consumed six foods of the diet had a reduced risk of 46%, while those who ate five foods had a 34% risk, the study revealed.
The researchers found that the women who consumed less than five foods of the Mediterranean diet were more likely to develop uterine cancer.
The findings of the new study on how the Mediterranean diet lowers the risk of uterine cancer were published in the British Journal of Cancer on May 27.
However, the researchers said that although the study found there is a connection between consuming a Mediterranean diet and a lower risk of uterine cancer, the study does not show a cause and effect relationship between the two.
Julie Sharp, a researcher at Cancer Research UK, said that even though it’s been proved that advancing in age and being overweight are two factors that increase the risk of uterine cancer, further studies are needed to determine whether Mediterranean diet can actually reduce this risk.
Sharp added that the risk of cancer is mostly increased by age and genetic material, but living a healthy lifestyle can lower the risk of cancer.
Those who do not smoke, have a healthy weight, eat healthy foods and exercise have a reduced risk of developing cancer.
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