Highlights
- Fish, fruits and cutting down on sugar are the three most important factors that help maintain a healthy colon.
- Each one of these three choices was associated with a 30% reduced chances of having an advanced, pre-cancerous colorectal lesion.
- Following all the 3 choices had an 86% reduced odds of cancer.
All subjects were between 40 and 70 years old, without high risk of CRC, and answered a food frequency questionnaire.
Adherence to the MD components was defined as consumption levels above the group median for fruits, vegetables and legumes, nuts and seeds, whole grains, fish and poultry and a high ratio of monounsaturated to saturated fatty acids, as well consumption below the median of red meat, alcohol, and soft drinks.
"We found that each one of these three choices was associated with a little more than 30% reduced odds of a person having an advanced, pre-cancerous colorectal lesion, compared to people who did not eat any of the MD components. Among people who made all three healthy choices the benefit was compounded to almost 86% reduced odds," said Naomi Fliss Isakov, PhD fromTel-Aviv Medical Center, in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Reduce Risk of Colon cancer With Mediterranean Diet
After adjusting to account for other CRC risk factors, including other dietary components, the researchers narrowed in on high fish and fruit and low soft drinks as the best combo for reduced odds of advanced colorectal polyps.
The next step will be to see whether the MD is linked to lower risk of CRC in higher risk groups, she concluded.
Commenting on the study, ESMO spokesperson Dirk Arnold, MD, PhD, from Instituto CUF de Oncologia in Lisbon, Portugal, said "this large population-based cohort-control study impressively confirms the hypothesis of an association of colorectal polyps with diets and other life-style factors.
This stands in line with other very recent findings on nutritive effects, such as the potential protective effects of nut consumption and Vitamin D supplementation which have been shown earlier.
However, it remains to be seen whether these results are associated with reduced mortality, and it is also unclear if, and when a dietary change would be beneficial. Despite this lack of information, it makes sense to consider this diet for other health-related reasons also."
Reference
- Naomi Fliss Isakov et al.,Zoning in on specifics of Mediterranean diet for colorectal health, 19th ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer (2017).
Source-Medindia