Stojanovic J, et al. - This study sought to evaluate the association between adherence to Mediterranean diet (MD) and gastric cancer (GC). Findings revealed that high vegetable, legume, and fish consumption along with low intake of alcohol and meat were protective against the development of GC.

• At the Fondazione Policlinico ‘A. Gemelli’ (Rome, Italy), a case–control study was performed from 2003 to 2015.
• Researchers interviewed 223 incident cases and 223 controls.
• Through a validated food frequency questionnaire that collected information on more than 25 food items, they assessed dietary intake.
• Quantification of the association between adherence to MD and risk of GC was performed by calculating Odds Ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).
• Findings revealed that a higher adherence to MD was associated with a reduced risk of GC (OR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.61–0.81).
• Consistently a lower risk of GC was observed with a high consumption of vegetables (OR: 0.34; 95% CI: 0.14–0.85), legumes (OR: 0.13; 95% CI: 0.06–0.29), and fish (OR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.15–0.68), as well as low consumption of meat (OR: 0.29; 95% CI: 0.10–0.85) and alcohol (OR: 0.46; 95% CI: 0.24–0.90).