"My favorite animal is steak."
- Fran Lebowitz
(Ironic comment from a cancer survivor)

The September 27, 2001 issue of the Spanish journal Actas Urologicas Espanolas (my best translation into English would be: Spanish Records of Urology) includes a study of dietetic factors associated with prostate cancer. Researchers from the University of Pediatric Health in Valencia, Spain compared prostate cancer rates of a control group to prostate cancer rates of those men eating the Mediterranean diet.

The scientist as determined:

"Diet risk factors are associated with 35% of cancer mortalities and 10-12 percent of prostate cancer mortality."

The researchers described the Mediterranean diet (MD) as:

"...high daily ingestion of vegetarian products (cereals, legums, dried and fresh fruits, tubercles, vegetables..); olive oil as main lipid source; low intake of animal saturated fat, processed red meat, milk and dairy products; regular consumption of small fish; and low alcohol intake (wine with meals)."

They also explained a possible reason that Mediterranean dieters had lower cancer rates by writing:

"The MD contains many phytoactive compounds (lycopene, lupeol, quercetin, genistein, carnosol, resveratrol, catechins, vitamins..) with prostate cancer-protective effects."

Their conclusion:

"Diet risk factors have a role on prostatic carcinogenesis ... Prostate Cancer risk is reduced in persons on the Mediterranean Diet compared with those on the western diet..."

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com
http://www.Twitter.com/TheRealNotmilk