Obesity rates in the United States have risen markedly over the past two decades.
In the early 2000s, approximately 30.5% of US adults were classified as obese. By March 2020, this figure had increased to 41.9%, according to the CDC.
Notably, the prevalence of severe obesity also doubled during this period, rising from 4.7% to 9.2%. From a public health perspective, this is concerning, since obesity has been linked to an increased risk of several types of cancer.
Now, a groundbreaking new study published in the journal JAMA Network Open has unveiled a dietary approach that significantly reduces the risk of obesity-related cancers — even without weight loss.
This protective effect is attributed to the Mediterranean diet, renowned for its rich inclusion of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, lean proteins, and healthy fats.
Researchers assessed the data of 450,111 participants aged 35 to 70 across 10 European countries and found that high adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a 6% lower risk of obesity-related cancers.
What’s surprising is that this reduced risk was observed regardless of whether or not participants lost weight, suggesting weight loss may not be the only factor in mitigating your risk of ORCs.
“So if you think about obesity-related cancer and what mechanisms fuel that cancer, well, chronic inflammation fuels obesity-related cancers,” Dr. Christine Molmenti, a Northwell Health colorectal cancer specialist, told the Post.
“Oxidative stress. Metabolic dysregulation. People with too much insulin or poor blood sugar control.”
Then there are other factors like hormonal changes, which also compound the risk of colon cancer.
“What this study found is that, look, it’s not just about losing weight,” she said. “It’s about perhaps the mechanism of these foods that are really characteristic of a Mediterranean diet.”
The Mediterranean diet is renowned for its anti-inflammatory properties — and the more anti-inflammatory your diet is, the less likely you are to get cancer, according to Molmenti.
You can even think of some of these foods as a protective barrier of sorts.
“Some foods really act as what I like to call ‘nutritional armor for your DNA,’” she said. “Foods that we eat in our diet that are plant based — a lot of berries, a lot of nuts, a lot of polyphenolic foods — they actually help to protect our DNA, and we don’t have enough of those foods in our diet.”
For people on a Western diet, simply eating a handful of berries can help reduce inflammation, even if it doesn’t lead to a lower BMI.
“They’re saying, look, it’s not all about losing weight. Because they also found that even among smokers, there was a reduced impact or less influence of the many carcinogens found in smoke,” she said.
“When you eat this Mediterranean diet, you actually can buffer the influence of some of those carcinogens by having these foods in your body.”
And you don’t have to go crazy — a little goes a long way.
“I know the old adage: an apple a day [keeps the doctor away]. But there’s a lot of truth to that. Even if you can just add an apple every single day,” she said.
“Even if you can just add a handful of almonds every single day, these are small steps. And that is really the key to behavior change and trying to be healthier.”
