Olive Oil and Cancer : SuperFoodsRx

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Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Olive Oil and Cancer

Table of Contents

1.	Overview
2.	Olive Oil and Blood Pressure
3.	Olive Oil and Cardiovascular Disease
4.	Olive Oil and Cancer
5.	Olive Oil in the Kitchen

There is reason to believe that extra virgin olive oil could play a significant role in preventing cancer. It's been estimated that up to 25 percent of the incidence of colorectal cancer, 15 percent of the incidence of breast cancer, and approximately 10 percent of the incidence of prostate, pancreas, and endometrial cancers could be prevented if the populations of Western countries would consume the traditional Mediterranean Diet. Of course, this would mean an increase in fruit and vegetable intake as well as the substitution of olive oil as a main source of fat in the diet. While we don't know exactly what it is in olive oil that provides this protection against cancer, we do know that once again it seems to be the synergy of the whole food.

There has been great interest in the role of olive oil in the development and prevention of breast cancer. The role of fat in the diet and its effect on breast cancer is controversial, and a number of studies have been published with conflicting findings. In case-control studies, consumption of olive oil has been shown to reduce the estimated relative risk of breast cancer in Spain and Greece. Moreover, in animal studies, olive oil seems to have an anti-tumor effect. Interesting research points to the possible ability of olive oil to reduce breast cancer risk. It seems that oleic acid, the monounsaturated fat found in olive oil, may have the ability to inhibit the growth of certain types of breast cancer cells by inhibiting a gene that stimulates their growth.

There is some evidence that olive oil can play a role in the prevention of colon cancer as well as breast cancer. In one large European study, olive oil consumption was negatively associated with the incidence of colorectal cancer. Evidence suggests that compounds such as the phenolics in olive oil act directly in the colon to reduce oxidative or free-radical damage of the colon. This reduction of free-radical damage would ultimately have a chemoprotective result. There's also evidence that substances in olive oil inhibit the formation of amines—cancer-causing compounds that form during the cooking of meat. This would indicate that a marinade that contains extra virgin olive oil may lessen cancer risk, as it would inhibit these cancer-promoting amines from forming in the first place.

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