18/08/2026
Extra virgin olive oil is a cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet, and one landmark study suggested it may do more than protect your heart, it may also help protect against breast cancer.
In a well-known analysis from the PREDIMED trial, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, older women who followed a Mediterranean diet supplemented with free extra virgin olive oil had a 68% lower relative risk of developing invasive breast cancer, compared to women simply advised to follow a low-fat diet. Researchers believe olive oil's protective plant compounds, like oleocanthal and oleuropein, may help by interfering with the growth signals cancer cells rely on.
Now the honest context, because it really matters here. That 68% is a relative reduction, and the actual numbers were small, only 35 breast cancer cases occurred across the whole study, and breast cancer wasn't the trial's main goal, it was a secondary finding. The women were all older, Spanish, and at high heart-disease risk, so the results may not apply to everyone, and the benefit came from olive oil as part of a whole Mediterranean diet, not from oil alone. Scientists themselves call it promising but not definitive.
The takeaway is still encouraging and safe: a Mediterranean-style diet rich in extra virgin olive oil, vegetables, fish, and whole foods is genuinely good for you. And regular screening remains the most reliable tool for breast cancer, so keep up with your mammograms.
This is general information not medical advice.
Source: Toledo E et al. JAMA Internal Medicine, (PREDIMED trial, Mediterranean diet with olive oil and breast cancer).