Olive oil fights breast cancer: Study

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LONDON: Adding as little as 10 teaspoons of olive oil to your daily diet could help protect women against breast cancer, Spanish researchers say.

The findings, published in the journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), show that olive oil mounts a multi-pronged attack on cancer tumours, stunting their growth, driving their cells to implode and protecting against potentially cancerous damage to DNA.

“This study is ground-breaking because it shows that olive oil and a Mediterranean diet affect our bodies in a far more significant way than previously believed," FASEB editor-in-chief Gerald Weissmann said.

Britain's Daily Mail newspaper said Spanish scientists from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona conducted experiments on rats, which showed that olive oil thwarts a gene driving the growth of breast tumours. It also protects DNA from damage that can lead to cancer.

The researchers recommended women add 50 ml — about 10 teaspoons — of high quality, extra-virgin olive oil to their daily diets and warned only long-term use would give results.

The new findings bolster evidence of the benefits of a "Mediterranean diet" — one that is high in fruit, vegetables, fish, nuts, whole grains and healthy fats such as those in olive oil, while low in red meat and dairy products, has previously been credited with

Among the touted health benefits of a Mediterranean diet is increased protection against major diseases like cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.