Mediterranean Diet alters microbiome to lower breast cancer risk

Researchers from the Wake Forest School of Medicine have shown that a Mediterranean Diet increases the levels of Lactobacillus bacteria in breasts to levels normally found in healthy rather than malignant tissue.

Previous research studies have shown that breast tissue has its own microbiome and that this differs between healthy breasts and those with cancer. Those with cancer have much, much lower levels of the species Lactobacillus.

The issue in this research study was whether one diet could be better than others for increasing Lactobacillus strains in the depleted breast cancer microbiome.

The science is consistent. Diet has now been proven many times to alter the composition of the gut microbiome. And losses in the gut microbiome are known to be reflected in the microbiome of the breast in cancer cases.

Researchers took non-human primates (monkeys) and fed one group a Mediterranean Diet of olive oil, oily fish, limited meat consumption such as chicken, nuts and seeds, fruit, vegetables and whole grains, while the control group had a standard and typical Western Diet.

The monkeys on the Mediterranean Diet had an abundance of Lactobacillus in their mammary tissue, significantly greater than those on the Western Diet. The Rainbow Diet fed monkeys also had much higher levels of important bacteria- processed bioactive compounds and metabolites.

Chris Woollams, former Oxford University Biochemist and a founder of CANCERactive added, “Why am I not surprised? The science is consistent. Diet has now been proven many times to alter the composition of the gut microbiome. And losses in the gut microbiome, especially of Lactic Acid bacteria, are known to be reflected in the microbiome of the breast in cancer cases. 

Go to: Lactic Acid Bacteria explained

We also know that positive changes can happen rapidly. For example, taking Lactobacillus strains via probiotics is known from research to reduce mastitis within 24 hours in mothers breast feeding their babies. This is a good piece of confirmatory evidence that diet can strengthen the healthy breast microbiome. It’s about time UK Dieticians in cancer hospitals woke up to Science-based evidence.”

Go to: Breast Cancer – Everything you need to know 

Reference

1. Cell Rep. 2018 Oct 2;25(1):47-56.e3. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2018.08.078.