Even after being diagnosed with cancer, the Mediterranean Diet is an effective health ally. This is the primary finding of an Italian study conducted as part of the UMBERTO Project by the Joint Research Platform Umberto Veronesi Foundation – Department of Epidemiology and Prevention of the I.R.C.C.S. Neuromed of Pozzilli, in collaboration with the LUM “Giuseppe Degennaro” University of Casamassima (BA). According to this study, patients diagnosed with any form of tumor who adhered to the Mediterranean Diet in the year before enrolling in the study lived longer and had a lower risk of cardiovascular death than those who did not adhere to the diet.

The study, published in JACC CardioOncology, looked at 800 Italian adults, both men and women, who had already been diagnosed with cancer when they enrolled in the Moli-sani Study, which ran from 2005 to 2010 (1). Participants were tracked for more than 13 years, and full information on their food habits in the year preceding enrollment was available for all of them.

Health Benefits of Mediterranean Diet

“The beneficial role of the Mediterranean Diet in primary prevention of some tumors is well known in the literature – says Marialaura Bonaccio, first author of the study and Co-Principal Investigator of the Joint Research Platform at the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention of the IRCCS Neuromed. However, little is known about the potential benefits that this dietary model can have for those who have already received a cancer diagnosis.”

Given that the number of cancer survivors is projected to rise in the next years, maybe due to targeted and effective medicines, it is critical to determine how far a good diet can extend survival. This is why Italian researchers investigated the significance of the Mediterranean Diet with mortality in patients who had a history of cancer at the time they enrolled in the Moli-sani trial, one of Europe’s largest population cohorts.

Mediterranean Diet Reduces Death Risk in Cancer Survivors

“The results of our study, says Bonaccio, suggest that patients who had cancer and reported a strong adherence to a Mediterranean style of eating had a 32% lower risk of mortality than participants who did not follow the Mediterranean Diet. The advantage was especially noticeable for cardiovascular mortality, which was decreased by 60%.”

“These findings support an intriguing hypothesis,” says Maria Benedetta Donati, Principal Investigator of the Joint Platform, “that different chronic diseases, such as tumors and heart disease, actually share the same molecular mechanisms.” This is referred to as ‘common soil’ in the literature, and it is the common foundation from which these two categories of illnesses emerge.”

What is the Mediterranean Diet?

“The Mediterranean Diet,” explains Chiara Tonelli, President of the Umberto Veronesi Foundation’s Scientific Committee, is mostly made up of foods like fruit, vegetables, and olive oil, which are natural sources of antioxidant compounds, which could explain the observed advantage in terms of mortality not only from cancer but also from cardiovascular diseases, which can be reduced by diets high in these bioactive compounds. The UMBERTO Project aims to improve understanding of the mechanisms to clarify the benefits of this nutritional paradigm for more susceptible populations, such as cancer survivors.”

References:

1. Mediterranean Diet Is Associated With Lower All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality Among Long-Term Cancer Survivors
   (Marialaura Bonaccio, Augusto Di Castelnuovo, Simona Costanzo, Emilia Ruggiero, Simona Esposito, Teresa Panzera, Chiara Cerletti, Maria Benedetta Donati, Giovanni de Gaetano, Licia Iacoviello,
   Mediterranean Diet Is Associated With Lower All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality Among Long-Term Cancer Survivors,
   JACC: CardioOncology,
   2024,
   ,
   ISSN 2666-0873,
   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccao.2024.05.012.
   (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666087324002084)
   )

Source-Medindia