Mexican food fights cancer
I think I need to head to my favorite Mexican restaurant, a place I typically avoid because I just can't stop myself from inhaling chips and salsa. Maybe if I stick with Mexican cheeses, beans, soups, tomato-based sauces, and meats I'll be OK, though. I may even prevent breast cancer from paying me a return visit.A tradition Mexican diet may help prevent breast cancer, says a study of hundreds of women living in the Four Corners region (Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona). Hey, low fat diets and moderate consumption of red wine are credited for warding off heart disease. Why not Mexican food and breast cancer?
Researchers happened upon their study after noting lower rates of breast cancer among Hispanic women. They looked at diets such as the Native Mexican diet, the Western diet, the Mediterranean diet, and low-fat diets. The lowest risk of breast cancer turned up among those who closely followed the Mexican and Mediterranean diets.
This isn't a one-size-fits-all diet, though. To read more about the folks who benefit most -- like premenopausal women with a BMI of less than 25 -- read more here.
Incidentally, the diet associated with the highest risk of breast cancer, regardless of menopausal status is the Western diet.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-12-2008 @ 10:49PM
marcie0305 said...
What's wrong with salsa? :) Load it up on those chips and try to eat a little less chips. I really think the common factor is the abundance of raw vegetables and legumes mixed in with the other traditional cooked meats...and healthy fats from things like avacados (guacamole).
Wait, let me clarify, salsa in a jar most often is cooked for preservation - and has added crap like preservatives and sugar (or even -shocker- high fructose corn syrup) - the homemade raw salsa you typically get in a Mexican restaurant is great for you!
~Marcie
http://feedingblackmail.blogspot.com/
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4-13-2008 @ 12:34PM
Judy said...
I've always loved Mexican food, and my husband and I have been eating closer to a traditional Mexican diet for years - lots of beans, rice, salsa, avocados, maybe too much cheese.
One sad thing, though, is that we now live on the Mexico border, and much of the population on this side of the river has abandoned their traditional diet. Our county has one of the highest rates of obesity in the country, along with the highest frequency of fast food consumption (I think it was 23 times a month on average), high rates of diabetes. It is also the poorest large county in the nation.
There are groups trying to advocate for a return to a traditional diet for Mexican-Americans - pushing more fruits, vegetables, and less refined foods.
One of the interesting things was that for the older generations, life expectancy here was actually one of the highest in the nation, but they don't expect that to hold true for the younger generations as they adopt a more typical American diet.
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