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It goes without saying that we should all do what we can to lower our risk of cancer, but with so many different recommendations out there, which lifestyle choices are actually your best bet? According to research published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, we might want to look to the Mediterranean for the answer.

Studying the Mediterranean lifestyle & cancer mortality risk

In case you’re new to the concept, the Mediterranean lifestyle is a lifestyle that includes a diet full of antioxidant-rich fruits, vegetables, legumes, seafood, seeds, olive oil, and lots of herbs and spices. Habits include plenty of socialization and community, physical activity, and rest, as well.

So for this study, researchers wanted to look at how this lifestyle impacts all-cause and cancer mortality. To do so, they analyzed the habits of over 110,000 people using data from the UK Biobank, looking at their food consumption, cooking habits, lifestyle factors, etc. Then, nine years later, the researchers followed up to assess the health outcome of the participants.

And based on their findings, people adhering to a Mediterranean lifestyle do, indeed, have a lower risk of cancer and all-cause mortality. Namely, the lifestyle was associated with a 29% lower risk of all-cause mortality and a 28% lower risk of cancer mortality, compared to those who weren’t adhering to the lifestyle.

Notably, physical activity, rest, and social habits/conviviality were the factors most strongly associated with these lowered risks—and was also associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality.

What to do about it

As the study’s lead author, Mercedes Sotos Prieto Ph.D., explains in a news release, “This study suggests that it’s possible for non-Mediterranean populations to adopt the Mediterranean diet using locally available products and to adopt the overall Mediterranean lifestyle within their own cultural contexts.”

So, consider it one more reason to lean into the Mediterranean style of eating, including plenty of whole foods and omega-rich options in your regular rotation of ingredients, as well as lifestyle habits like an active lifestyle, close community, and plenty of time to rest and recover from stress.

Not only could it help lower your risk of cancer mortality, but the diet itself has so many additional benefits, whatever your health goals are.

After all, U.S. News & World Report‘s annual ranking of the best diets consistently ranks the Mediterranean diet as No. 1—it just earned the top spot for the fifth year in a row. That report, specifically, notes the diet can support weight loss, heart and brain health, cancer prevention, and diabetes prevention and control.

The takeaway

When it comes to lowering your risk of cancer and all-cause mortality, there’s certainly no shortage of diets and lifestyles you can pick up to figure out what works for you. If you’ve never tried adopting the Mediterranean lifestyle, you just might find this easy-living lifestyle is worth the hype