A team of researchers, led by Cristina Bosetti of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan, has discovered how a healthy and balanced diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, can act as a shield against endometrial cancer, cutting the likelihood of its onset by as much as half.

Bosetti's team analysed the diets of more than five thousand Italian women, determining their degree of adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern through nine dietary components: daily consumption of vegetables, fruit, nuts, wholegrains, potatoes, fish and polyunsaturated fats; and reduced consumption of alcohol, meat and dairy products.

Women who met at least seven of the nine "criteria" of the Mediterranean diet showed a 57 per cent reduction in the risk of uterine cancer; those who adopted six recorded a 46 per cent reduction in risk, while women who followed five saw their risk fall by 34 per cent.

Below five components, the experts did not observe a significant reduction in the risk of uterine cancer. According to the researchers, what protects women is the high content of antioxidants, fibre and "good" fats in the Mediterranean diet.