*People who follow the Mediterranean Diet have up to 33% less gastric tumours, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

*Gastric cancer has a poor prognosis and lacks effective treatment. This is why promoting prevention is especially important.

The Mediterranean Diet has a significant protective effect against gastric cancer. So it concludes a study by the EPIC network, which has involved a group of scientists from the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) and the Institute of Biomedical Research of Bellvitge (IDIBELL), led by Genevieve Buckland and Carlos A. Gonzalez, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The study included 485,044 people between the ages of 35 to 70 from ten European countries. Participants were followed for about nine years and data was collected on diet and lifestyle.

Participants received a score from 0 to 18 based their adherence to the Mediterranean Diet: high consumption of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, fish and olive oil,moderate alcohol consumption and low consumption of milk and meat.

After nine years of follow up, 449 people developed gastric cancer. According to the study, individuals with a high score, ie, greater adherence to the Mediterranean Diet, were 33% less likely to develop these tumours than those with poorer scores. The work also concluded that for each point more, implying minimal changes to the diet, 5% more protection was achieved.

Diet and cancer

The Mediterranean Diet has proven beneficial in preventing various diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases. Previous studies have analised the effect of specific products (fruits, vegetables, vitamin C) on gastric cancer, which had shown a subtle protective effect.

This is the first study to show the important benefactor effect of the Mediterranean Diet as a whole to prevent this tumour according to the authors of the study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, “the influence of each food can be weak, but the simultaneous effect of all the components of the Mediterranean Diet confers significant protection against gastric cancer. Thus, the beneficial effect is not due to a specific product, but the Mediterranean Diet as a whole.

A cancer with poor prognosis

Gastric tumours are the second leading cause of death from cancer worldwide, with more than one million deaths each year. In the Spanish state, it is the fifth most common cancer – 8200 new cases a year- and fourth that causes more deaths.

It is a tumour with poor prognosis, since it is diagnosed at advanced stages and has no effective treatment. Currently, the 5-year survival rate does not exceed 23%. This is why it is particularly important to promote prevention.

Until now the relationship between gastric cancer and infection by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and tobacco use had been demonstrated. Some studies have also suggested that fruits and vegetables reduce the risk of suffering from it, while consumption of smoked and salted products as well as obesity increase the risk.

EPIC

EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Study) is a prospective population cohorts consisting of 23 centers from 10 European countries. It is the European study with a largest number of participants: includes 521,457 people between the ages of 35 and 70, who were recruited between 1992 and 1998. The ICO coordinates the study of gastric and oesophageal tumours.

Casa Llotja de Mar in Barcelona hosted the presentation of the major Spanish food and drinks exhibition for 55 trade journalists from over 30 countries around the world. This highly prestigious event included the participation of Catalan Minister Joaquim Llena; Junior Minister Josep Puxeu; ICEX (Spanish acronym for the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade) Executive Vice-chairman Ángel Martín Acebes and General Manager for Promotion Jaime Montalvo; FIAB (Spanish acronym for the Spanish Food and Drink Industry Federation) Chairman Jesús Serafín Pérez and Internationalisation Committee Chairman José Carlos Lacasa; the chairman of the Alimentaria Organising Committee, Josep-Lluís Bonet; Alimentaria’s top executive, J. Antonio Valls; Alimentaria Exhibitions General Manager Francisco Carrió; IESE economics lecturer Antonio Argandoña; the chairman of Innoval, Josep Arcas; the president of the Association for the Advancement of the Mediterranean Diet, Francisco Sensat; and chef Fermí Puig, member of the BCNVanguardia Technical Committee. The consulting firm Synovate presented the main approaches of the study ‘What consumers of brands expect. The manufacturer’s role as brand manager’.

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During this month, the consumer workshops are taking place at the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management of Madrid, in collaboration with Argis Congress. They are aimed at consumer, housewives associations, etc. with the objective of reaching about 2,000 people.

During these workshops, tips for maintaining a balanced diet with Mediterranean products are given, as well as shopping advice for the assistants, and not well know products that have more affordable prices. The message that assistants take with them is that “Eating well is not expensive”.

The workshops are given by a chef and an assistant cook and counts on the presence of an expert nutritionist who gives a conference on the Mediterranean Diet, explaining the importance of a healthy diet as well as answering questions from the audience.

The Anna Lindh Foundation (http://www.euromedalex.org/) is the first institution created by the 35 countries of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership in order to improve mutual knowledge and quality of cultural dialogue between the two shores of the Mediterranean.

It promotes cultural dialogue, promoting exchanges, cooperation and mobility of people, particularly among young people, and organizes activities in the framework of the Barcelona Process.

Conceived as a “network of networks”, the Anna Lindh Foundation is comprised of its headquarters in Alexandria and has 35 state networks. Each network consists of entities, centres, associations, university departments, NGOs and institutions of the 35 member countries of the Partnership.

The Spanish network of the Anna Lindh Foundation is formed by 82 members and incorporates various entities and organization from the civil society. The IEMed was appointed the coordinator of the Spanish Network by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For all the information about the congress, visit the website www.congresodietamediterranea.info.

The three Hospital cafeterias (which serve about 6,000 meals a day) are joining the AMED project, pioneer in the Spanish state promoting the Mediterranean Diet.

The hospital’s main buildings have placed signs at decisive points to promote the use of stairs instead of taking the elevator.

The joint work between the Vall d’Hebron Hospital, ARCASA (cafeteria managing company), the Department of Health and the Mediterranean Diet Foundation has made this success possible.

The Vall d’Hebron Hospital is the largest hospital in Catalonia. It employs about 7,000 professionals. The 3 cafeterias serve approximately 6,000 meals on a daily basis.

For more information on AMED:

http://ww.amed.cat
For more information on the PAAS project and the ESCALES project:
http://www.gencat.cat/salut/depsalut/html/ca/dir2622/index.html

The Mediterranean Diet Workshops for Children have kicked off this month; given by the FDM in collaboration with Argis Congress, as a part of the promotion strategy by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Action, Generalitat of Catalonia.

The workshops aim at reaching approximately 9,400 children between the ages of 7 and 12, transmitting them the values of the Mediterranean Diet.

Elementary school students participating in this interactive workshop that combines theory and a hands-on task develop a recipe that incorporates a variety of foods such as spinach, oranges, tuna and pomegranate, etc…

For more information, please visit the section on children’s workshops.

It is essential to know the most suitable food to meet the nutritional needs of children, and thus help them acquire healthy eating habits. You have to “know” to be able to “act”.

Currently there have been many educational campaigns in schools aimed at children, but we must not forget that there is a need for information and education at the family level, in its broad concept. So this November the campaign “Healthy Eating with the Family” was kicked off, in collaboration the Cooperative Consum, which consists of workshops aimed at those responsible for the child’s diet; school-aged between 0 to 8 years old, with the overall aim to educate, inform and raise awareness in the family on issues related to nutrition and healthy habits. It also seeks to encourage and promote the Mediterranean lifestyle and diet as a model for healthy eating, working on the psychological and emotional factors related to food and the actual act of eating and drinking, while providing an adequate introduction and familiarization with healthy foods.

This campaign will be conducted through workshops aimed primarily at parents through the schools Parents Associations. These workshops will last 1.5 hours and will be taught by experts in nutrition. Attendees will receive backing material. The workshops are held throughout Spain and will be conducted by our Foundation in Catalonia.

Ultimately the campaign aims to promote a healthy lifestyle and the Mediterranean diet, in a practical and useful way to Spanish homes and transmit them to the smaller members of the household.

For more information, visit the website: