Fruits, Cereals, Dairy Protect Against Oral Carcinoma NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jun 26 Fruits, cereals, dairy products, and olive oil appear to protect against oral carcinoma, according to a report in the June 1st issue of Cancer. This effect may be mediated by the increased intake of certain micronutrients. In a hospital-based, case-control study, Dr. Eleni Petridou, of Athens University Medical School, Greece, and colleagues examined the nutritional etiology of oral carcinoma in Greece, where there is a very low incidence of the disease. One hundred six patients with incident carcinoma and 106 matched controls completed food frequency questionnaires, and the team used logistic regression to analyze the data. After adjustment for energy intake, smoking and alcohol consumption, the investigators observed an inverse association between consumption of cereal and starchy roots (p=0.004), added lipids, mainly from olive oil (p=0.04), fruits (p=0.12) and dairy products (p=0.20) and the risk of oral carcinoma. "Only with regard to meat and meat products is there evidence of a positive association with the risk of oral carcinoma (p=0.12)," they report. The researchers note that an increased intake of riboflavin (p=0.003) and magnesium (p=0.01) was also inversely associated with the risk of oral carcinoma. "The low incidence and/or mortality from oral carcinoma reported in Greece could be explained, at least in part, on the basis of the high consumption by the Greek population of fruits and perhaps of cereals (mostly bread) and olive oil as an added lipid," Dr. Petridou and colleagues conclude. Cancer 2002;94:2981-2988. Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.