A Mediterranean diet not only reduces the risk of colon cancer, but also increases the chances of survival for people whose doctors have already diagnosed colon cancer. According to a study that epidemiologists at the Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel will soon publish in the Journal of Nutrition, the Mediterranean diet halves the mortality rate of people who have survived colon cancer.
The Germans studied a group of 1404 in whom doctors had diagnosed and treated colon cancer about six years ago. The researchers used questionnaires to determine the diet of the study participants and found out again six years later which of them were still alive.
The researchers calculated the quality of the study participants' diet in two ways. They looked to what extent that diet fit into the Mediterranean diet (low in hard fats, refined carbohydrates, processed and red meat, and high in fish, vegetables, fruit, olive oil, whole grain products, beans and nuts) and the traditional Northern European diet ( with cabbage, carrots, oatmeal, wholemeal bread, apples, pears and fish).
Using both criteria, the researchers divided the study participants into four equally sized groups. Q1 = the group with a diet that least met the criteria for the traditional Northern European or Mediterranean diet; Q4 = the group with a diet that most closely met the criteria for the traditional Northern European or Mediterranean diet. The more the diet fit into the Mediterranean diet, the better the chances of survival. The chance of dying in Q4 was half that in Q1.
The study participants with a healthy traditional Northern European diet also died less often from the consequences of colorectal cancer. That effect was statistically slightly less convincing than that of the Mediterranean diet.
Conclusion
In conclusion, our results suggest that long-term colorectal cancer survivors with a stronger adherence to the Mediterranean diet have a lower risk of all-cause mortality. “The same tendency could be observed for adherence to the healthy Nordic diet.”
“Our results, along with those of future studies, might help strengthen the evidence and develop dietary recommendations for cancer survivors.”
Source: Ergogenics.org – http://jn.nutrition.org/content/early/2017/02/22/jn.116.244129