May 28, 2015 06:09 PM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

A Mediterranean diet could significantly reduce the risk of developing womb cancer, according to a recent study WNYT reported. 

Researchers found that the Mediterranean diet, which is characterized by a high intake of vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains, olive oil and fish,  could cut their risk of womb cancer by more than 57 percent.

"Cancer risk is affected by our age and our genes, but a healthy lifestyle can also play a part in reducing the risk of some cancers," Dr. Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK's head of health information, said in a statement. "Not smoking, keeping a healthy weight, being active, eating healthily, and cutting down on alcohol helps to stack the odds in your favor."

For the study, researchers looked at the diets of more than 5,000 Italian women to see how closely they stuck to a Mediterranean diet and whether they went on to develop womb cancer. The team broke the Mediterranean diet down into nine different components and measured how closely women stuck to them, HealthDay News reported.

They found that women who adhered to the Mediterranean diet most closely by eating between seven and nine of the beneficial food groups lowered their risk of womb cancer by more than half. Those who stuck to six elements of the diet's components reduced their risk of womb cancer by 46 percent and those who stuck to five reduced their risk by a third.

"Our research shows the impact a healthy balanced diet could have on a woman's risk of developing womb cancer. This adds more weight to our understanding of how our every day choices, like what we eat and how active we are, affect our risk of cancer," Dr. Cristina Bosetti, lead author of the study, said in a statement.

The findings are detailed in the British Journal of Cancer.

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