News at HSPHA study co-authored by HSPH’s Dimitrios Trichopoulos found that postmenopausal women who followed a Mediterranean diet may have a lower risk of breast cancer. Trichopoulos, professor of cancer prevention, discussed the study with Reuters.
A traditional Mediterranean diet includes foods rich in fish, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and olive oil, with less intake of red meat and dairy. The study, which followed close to 15,000 women in Greece for a decade, found that postmenopausal women who adhered to a Mediterranean diet most closely were 22 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than those who had the least adherence to a Mediterranean diet. No association was found among premenopausal women. The study appears in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (see abstract).
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