Sarah Regan is a Spirituality & Relationships Editor, and a registered yoga instructor. She received her bachelor’s in broadcasting and mass communication from SUNY Oswego, and lives in Buffalo, New York.
Image by Tatjana Zlatkovic / Stocksy
September 10, 2023
As Hippocrates once said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Indeed, certain foods can help keep your health where you want it—but which foods, exactly? According to new research published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition1, the answer can be found in the Mediterranean. Here’s what to know.
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Studying the impact of the Mediterranean diet on gastric cancer risk
As a refresher, the Mediterranean diet is broadly based on the diet of the countries lining the Mediterranean Sea, and focuses on antioxidant-rich fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes, seafood, nuts, seeds, olive oil, and plenty of herbs and spices.
For this study, researchers wanted to assess the impact of the Mediterranean diet on gastric cancer risk. Namely, they conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of existing Mediterranean diet research.
They gathered 11 different studies which included a cumulative of over 1,300,000 people, looking for any significant patterns between the diet and instances of gastric cancer.
And based on their findings, it would appear the Mediterranean diet is a good diet to adopt if you want to stave off gastric cancer, because those participants with the highest adherence to the Mediterranean diet had a 29% lower risk of gastric cancer on average.
What to do about it
Consider these findings one more reason to lean into the Mediterranean style of eating, including plenty of whole foods and omega-rich options in your regular rotation of ingredients.
Not only could it help lower your risk of gastric cancer, but the diet itself has so many additional benefits, whatever your health goals are.
After all, the U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking of the best diets consistently ranks the Mediterranean diet as #1—it just earned the top spot for the fifth year in a row. That report, specifically, notes the diet can support weight loss, heart and brain health, cancer prevention, and diabetes prevention and control.
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The takeaway
When it comes to dietary options, there’s certainly no shortage of diets and lifestyles you can pick up to figure out what works for you. If you’ve never tried the Mediterranean diet, this abundant and fresh way of cooking and eating has a ton of benefits, including, thanks to this research, a lower risk of gastric cancer.
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