Olive Oil Can Protect Us From Breast Cancer

Have you ever thought that an ingredient as common in our home as olive oil can protect us from breast cancer? We’ll talk about that in this article.

Science has increasingly found a relationship between the diet we maintain in our daily lives and the risk of developing various diseases.

Among them, we can mention cancer as one of the dreaded conditions whose risk is greatly influenced by the characteristics of our diet.

We are used to hearing about foods with carcinogens, which can increase the risk of developing the disease in the human body, but today we want to talk about the opposite situation.

A recent study identified that  a diet based on the Mediterranean diet, and especially the consumption of extra virgin olive oil, can reduce the risk of developing breast cancer.

Read on to learn more about this interesting study, and learn how to incorporate its findings into your diet and gain these great benefits.

Study on olive oil and breast cancer

The study was carried out by the Universidad de Navarra, Spain, and the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red-Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y la Nutrición (CIBERobn), and published the results in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

For the investigation, the participating women followed three types of diet.

The first group maintained the Mediterranean diet rich in extra virgin olive oil; the second group also maintained the Mediterranean diet, but rich in oilseeds; and the third group simply maintained a low-fat diet.

The three groups had similar risk factors in relation to family history of the disease, alcohol and tobacco consumption, etc. More than 4,000 women were analyzed over a period of almost five years, and the results were surprising.

More about the study

The group of women who maintained the Mediterranean diet rich in extra virgin olive oil had a 62% lower risk of developing breast cancer when compared to women who maintained the low-fat diet.

The high oilseed diet group also showed a reduction in risk, but this was not statistically significant.

As the reason for this result, the authors cite the presence of some antioxidant compounds in extra virgin olive oil that are capable of killing cancer cells and preventing the growth of tumors.

Thus, the researchers’ conclusion is that getting at least 15% of the daily calories from extra virgin olive oil is crucial for breast cancer prevention.

It is important to highlight that there are several other factors that influence the risk of breast cancer in each individual.

Although many of them cannot be controlled by us (such as the presence of cases of cancer in our families), the diet is something that we can change, thus reducing the chance of developing the disease.

the mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet is considered one of the healthiest in the world, being always associated with longevity and good cardiovascular health, in addition to offering several other benefits.

It is based on the consumption of fruits, vegetables, pulses, nuts and nuts, fish and seafood, whole grains and, of course, the famous extra virgin olive oil.

There is no limitation regarding the intake of fats, however, these must be healthy fats from vegetable sources, avoiding the consumption of fats from animal sources.

To adopt it in your daily life, pay attention to the following recommendations:

• Replace butter and margarine with extra virgin olive oil. It can be used to cook, season salads and foods, and accompany bread.
• Increase your consumption of fruits and vegetables, rich in antioxidants important for various functions in the body.

• Also include vegetables and legumes such as beans, chickpeas and lentils in your diet.
• The main source of protein should be fish and seafood. As a sporadic alternative, it is possible to eat chicken meat and eggs, but red meat should always be avoided.
• Cereals are part of the diet, but wholegrain varieties should be prioritized.
• Dairy products shouldn’t be consumed very often, and we should prefer low-fat versions.
• The nuts, seeds and nuts in general are a source of healthy fats and are part of the Mediterranean diet.
• To season food, bet on natural herbs and spices, avoiding the excessive use of salt.
• Lastly, avoid sweets, sugars and refined carbohydrates in general.

By following these recommendations and making the Mediterranean diet your daily diet, you will certainly feel a big difference in your health and well-being, as well as preventing diseases such as breast cancer, mainly due to the consumption of extra virgin olive oil.