By consuming a moderate amount of plant matter called flavonoids with food, women (but not men!) Can avoid stomach cancer. In any case, European researchers say so.
The study showed that women with high consumption of flavonoids had half the chance of developing the disease than women who took them in limited quantities.
A flavonoid-rich diet is based on plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, tea, and chocolate.
For example, green tea contains a large amount of flavonoids - more than 12.511 mg per 100 g of leaves. Pinto beans - about 769 mg per 100 g of beans.
"Such a diet, combined with lower consumption of red and processed meat, can be a good way to protect against stomach cancer," said Zamora-Ros, a researcher at the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Spain.
Scientists studied data from about 500,000 men and women from 10 European countries. All participants were between the ages of 35 and 70 and participated in the study for about 11 years.
During this time, 683 cases of stomach cancer were diagnosed, of which 288 were in women.
After analyzing the participants' food diaries, scientists found that women who received more than 580 mg of flavonoids per day had a 51% less risk of developing stomach cancer than women who consumed no more than 200 mg per day.
The lack of a link between flavonoid intake and gastric cancer in men was a surprise to scientists. They suggested that perhaps this is due to hormonal differences. The reason may also be that men smoke and drink a lot. And this suggests that not only flavonoids are able to prevent the disease. Other factors, such as a healthy lifestyle, can also play a role.
