Mediterraan dieet tegen huidkanker*
Uit een kleine Italiaanse studie blijkt dat een mediterraan dieet wel eens de verklaring kan zijn waarom in Zuid-Europa zo veel minder gevallen van kwaadaardige huidkanker voorkomen; 3 per 100.000 inwoners tegen bijv. 22 in Scandinavische landen en zelfs 50 in Australië. Huidkanker ontstaat meestal doordat de huid te vaak en te lang aan zonlicht wordt blootgesteld en daardoor verbrandt. Een mediterraan dieet bestaat o.m. uit het regelmatig eten van veel groenten, peulvruchten, fruit, noten, kruiden, olijfolie en vis. In de studie werden 304 patiënten met huidkanker vergeleken met een vergelijkbare groep gezonde mensen. Iedere dag citrusfruit zoals sinaasappel en citroen, donkere bladgroenten en kruiden zoals rozemarijn deden de kans op huidkanker met 50% dalen. Twee keer of meer per week vette vis deed de kans met 35% dalen. Ook het iedere dag drinken van thee deed de kans halveren. Tomaten, vlees, kaas, boter, eieren en melk leken geen effect te hebben op het ontstaan van huidkanker.
Mediterranean diet 'halves' risk of skin cancer
Eating a Mediterranean diet can halve the risk of the most dangerous form of skin cancer, research suggests.
Regular intake of fruit, vegetables, nuts and fish may protect against malignant melanoma.
Although exposure to the sun's rays is still the biggest cause of this type of skin cancer, the latest study suggests poor diet could also be a factor.
Recent studies have shown Mediterranean foods can protect against other forms of cancer, as well as heart disease, asthma and diabetes.
But this is believed to be the first time scientists have found a benefit in terms of melanoma, an often lethal cancer that strikes more than 9,000 people a year in the UK and kills around 1,700 annually.
The findings, by a team of researchers at a skin disease hospital in Rome called the Dermopathic Institute of the Immaculate, could explain why skin cancer rates are so much lower in Mediterranean populations than those in northern Europe, the US and Australia.
Only around three in every 100,000 people living in Mediterranean countries develop malignant melanoma, compared with up to 22 per 100,000 in Scandinavia and 50 per 100,000 in Australia.
The latest research, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, concludes that eating foods like oranges, lemons, carrots, spinach, nuts, oily fish, fresh rosemary and olive oil could significantly reduce the chances of the disease.
But the study did have some good news for tea-loving Brits. The nation's favourite hot beverage was also found to halve cancer risk, while other drinks, including coffee and wine, appeared to offer no benefit.
Malignant melanomas develop when cells within moles become cancerous and start to divide uncontrollably, eventually spreading through the body.
Some evidence suggests even a few early bouts of sunburn in childhood can be enough to trigger the cellular changes in moles that lead to skin cancer later in life.
Researchers studied 304 patients who had developed melanomas and compared them with a similar-sized group of healthy controls.
After collecting data on skin type, sun exposure and family history of the disease, the researchers looked at how diets differed between the two groups.
Those who ate citrus fruits every day - such as oranges or lemons - and green leafy vegetables such as spinach more than five times a week were 50 per cent less likely to have cancer.
Similar benefits were seen from fresh herbs, especially rosemary, while eating oily fish such as sardines or salmon more than once a week slashed the odds of a melanoma by 35 per cent.
Tomatoes, however, did not have a protective effect, along with meat, liver, cheese, butter, eggs and milk.
In a report on their findings, the researchers said all the foods that helped are known to be rich in anti-cancer compounds called polyphenols.
These can protect the body's cells against the damaging effects of oxidative stress, a process by which oxygen-rich molecules can attack and destroy cells in much the same way as rust rots a car.
But Dr Jodie Moffat, health information officer at Cancer Research UK, said the study was too small to prove a Mediterranean diet reduced the risk of melanoma.
She added: "By far the greatest risk factor is excessive sun exposure. People can reduce their risk of developing melanoma by enjoying the sun safely and taking care not to
burn." (December
2008)
