 | Mediterranean Diet can protect from developing bre |
| 10/1/2006 |
| Scientists have discovered why eating a Mediterranean diet rich in fruits, vegetables and particularly olive oil can help to protect women from developing breast cancer.
The key is oleic acid, the main component of olive oil.
Dr Javier Menendez, of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said oleic acid blocks the action of a cancer-causing oncogene called HER-2/neu which is found in about 30 percent of breast cancer patients.
"We have something now that is able to explain why the Mediterranean diet is so healthy," Menendez told Reuters.
Doctors and researchers had been aware that eating a Mediterranean diet reduced the risk of breast cancer and other illnesses such as heart disease. But until now they did not know how.
Menendez and his colleagues in the United States and Spain studied the impact of oleic acid in laboratory studies of breast cancer cells, publishes Reuters.
According to WLNS, scientists say they've figured out why the Mediterranean Diet can help protect women from developing breast cancer. The key is oleic acid, the main component of olive oil.
In lab studies of breast cancer cells, doctors found the acid blocks the actions of a cancer-causing gene. Researchers had been aware a diet rich in fruit, vegetables and olive oil reduced the risk of breast cancer, but did not know how until now.
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