Food For Thought
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Sussex Life
Add a splash of olive oil
Although often linked to longevity, it has now been discovered that people who include plenty of olive oil in their diets may be helping to prevent damage to body cells that can eventually lead to cancer.
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A team of researchers from Copenhagen University Hospital looked at 182 healthy men aged between 20 and 60 from five European countries. They added either virgin, common or refined olive oil to their diets over two weeks and at the end of the study scientists measured levels of 8-oxodG – a substance which indicates oxidative damage to cells – in the men’s urine.
After taking olive oil, the men were found to have around 13 per cent less 8-oxodG, indicating that olive oil helps prevent cancer.
A team of researchers from Copenhagen University Hospital looked at 182 healthy men aged between 20 and 60 from five European countries. They added either virgin, common or refined olive oil to their diets over two weeks and at the end of the study scientists measured levels of 8-oxodG – a substance which indicates oxidative damage to cells – in the men’s urine.
After taking olive oil, the men were found to have around 13 per cent
less 8-oxodG, indicating that olive oil helps prevent cancer.
Dr Anthea Martin, science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: “The effect of diet on cancer risk is very complex because of the many different components of the food we eat. Although this study suggests that olive oil can reduce DNA damage that could lead to the development of cancer, more long-term research is needed to confirm these effects. “We do know that a healthy, balanced diet, including plenty of vegetables and fruit and limited amounts of red and processed meat, can help reduce the risk of cancer. The Europewide EPIC study, partly funded by Cancer Research UK, is looking at the effect of many food components in the diet of half a million people across ten countries in Europe.”
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