Cancer Survivors, This Diet May Reduce Your Risk of Death

After cancer, patients are at greater risk of developing various pathologies such as cardiovascular diseases or other malignant tumors. This increases their risk of death.

To counteract this effect, they can rely on Mediterranean cuisine. A study by the Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Health Care Neuromed in Pozzilli (Italy) and the University of Casamassima confirms that this diet reduces mortality in cancer survivors.

Mediterranean diet reduces mortality in cancer survivors

To test the impact of the Mediterranean diet on the health of cancer survivors, the researchers gathered 800 Italians who had been diagnosed with cancer between 2005 and 2010. They were followed for more than 13 years. Detailed information about their habits was collected throughout the research.

“The results of our study indicate that people with cancer who reported high adherence to a Mediterranean diet had a 32% lower risk of mortality than participants who did not follow the Mediterranean diet. The benefit was particularly evident for cardiovascular mortality, which was reduced by 60%.”explains Marialaura Bonaccio, first author of the study and co-principal researcher, in a communicated.

Faced with their various data, the scientists add in their article published in JACC CardioOncology that “Maintaining or adopting a traditional Mediterranean diet even after a cancer diagnosis may be beneficial”.

Cancer: the Mediterranean diet at the heart of nutritional recommendations

“These data support an interesting hypothesis that different chronic diseases, such as tumors and heart disease, actually share the same molecular mechanisms. This is known in the literature as ‘common ground’, i.e. a common ground from which these two groups of disorders arise.”underlines Maria Benedetta Donati who worked on this research. This leads the team to emphasize the importance of the Mediterranean diet in the development of dietary recommendations for cancer survivors.

“The Mediterranean diet is composed mainly of foods such as fruits, vegetables and olive oil, which are natural sources of antioxidant compounds, which could explain the observed advantage in terms of mortality not only due to cancer, but also to cardiovascular diseases, which can be reduced by a diet particularly rich in these bioactive compounds”recalls Chiara Tonelli, President of the Scientific Committee of the Umberto Veronesi Foundation.