ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the roles of diet, focusing on both nutrients and phytochemicals, in diet-related cancers and other diseases and describes how Mediterranean dietary patterns may provide specific nutrients or other components that are considered to help prevent these diseases. Major studies of the Mediterranean dietary pattern on cancer outcomes have been few, but they suggest a general reduction in diet-related cancers for consumers of these diets. Micronutrients in the diet that protect against the development of cancer are known as anticarcinogens because they either counteract the action of carcinogens or prevent the activation or expression of carcinogens. Iron deficiency may be related to increased rates of gastric cancers in humans, but insufficient data exist to make a definitive statement about the role of iron deficiency in cancer development. Free radicals, which are considered major factors contributing to cancer initiation, result from the normal metabolic activities of cells that involve oxygen.
