Mixed
High adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern reduces overall cancer risk by approximately 4% per two-point increment in adherence score.
Adopting a Mediterranean-style diet, characterized by high intake of vegetables, fruits, legumes, cereals, fish, and unsaturated fats, with low intake of meat and dairy, is associated with a modest but significant reduction in overall cancer risk. This benefit appears particularly strong for cancers linked to smoking. While the absolute risk reduction is around 4%, it is comparable to other established lifestyle factors like obesity and alcohol consumption.
A lower overall cancer risk was found among individuals with greater adherence to Mediterranean diet (hazard ratio = 0.96, 95% CI 0.95 – 0.98) for a two-point increment of the Mediterranean diet score.
Why this rating
Large prospective cohort (EPIC) with 478,478 participants and detailed adjustment for confounders, though observational design limits causal inference.
Source
Mediterranean dietary pattern and cancer risk in the EPIC cohort
E. Couto et al. · British Journal of Cancer · 2011
DOI 10.1038/bjc.2011.106
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