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# Mediterranean diet cuts prostate cancer risk
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/mediterranean_diet_cuts_prostate_cancer_risk_0407100628/
- Published: 2010-07-04T07:27:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T12:53:23.000Z
- Description: Reviewing evidence in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, Itsiopoulos and University of Melbourne colleagues note that Greek men in Greece and in Australia die of prostate cancer less often than men in many Western countries, and suggest the Mediterranean diet may explain the gap.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Cancer, Avoiding Illness, Prostate Cancer, Mediterranean Diet, #vivvo-import

Australian researchers have recently published a review article suggesting that eating Mediterranean diet may help cut the risk of developing prostate cancer.

The review published in the Feb 2009 issue of Molecular Nutrition and Food Research showed that Greek men in Greece and as migrants in Australia have a lower prostate cancer mortality compared to men in many Western countries.

Itsiopoulos C. and colleagues from the University of Melbourne in Australia, the authors, suggested that the Mediterranean diet used by Greek men may be responsible for the reduced risk of prostate cancer. This suggestion is due also to the fact that Mediterranean diet contains many bioactive nutrients against the disease.

The researchers based their review on the findings of a systematic review undertaken by an expert panel sponsored by the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute fro Cancer Research.

New studies have linked many nutrients to the reduced risk of prostate cancer. Foods containing lycopene and selenium probably protect against prostate cancer while foods or supplements containing calcium are a probable cause of this cancer, Itsiopoulos et al. found. 

Beta-carotene from foods or supplements on the other hand may not be protective against the disease.

The authors cited a recent review as finding that environmental factors such as vitamin E, legume, soy foods and high plasma 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels offer some protection against prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is diagnosed in 190,000 men in the United States each year and the disease kills about 35,000 men in the country annually, according to the National Cancer Institute. 

The disease is not as aggressive as other cancers and many patients don't need treatment.

Jimmy Downs