Mediterranean food...eat without guilt

There is a striking reduction in the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by a simple diet change. Deaths from heart attacks or strokes decreased by more than 30%. There is no treatment, medication or surgery of that size that can impact population health. The data appeared more recently in the prestigious medical journal, the New England Journal of Medicine.

By Riad Younes

A team of Spanish scientists from the Centre for Biomedical Research at the Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, led by Dr. R. Estruch, selected 7,447 patients with high cardiovascular risk, but who had not yet presented with  clinically identifiable disease. The volunteers were 57% women, aged between 55 and 80 years. All were randomized and separated into three groups, based on the suggestions of food: Mediterranean diet supplemented with virgin olive oil, or Mediterranean diet supplemented with nuts, or general diet at the suggestion of reducing fat in food.

The study tracked the 7,447 patients and showed that simple changes in diet reduces the chances of heart attacks and strokes.
 
The volunteers were followed closely by researchers for five years.  They recorded what they ate and the health problems that eventually were diagnosed and treated. The causes of death were detailed in these groups in order to assess the number of deaths due to heart attack, stroke or obstruction to blood.

During the study, 288 people died (3.8%). The results were obvious, with a 30% reduction in the risk of a person dying from cardiovascular disease simply by adopting either of two Mediterranean diets enriched with virgin olive oil or nuts.

There is a standardized diet consumed by inhabitants of the Mediterranean Sea basin. Since 1949, when Fernand Braudel published his colossal "The Mediterranean," trying to create an identity for that region, the ethnic and cultural diversity, cuisine consequently became clearer and less disparate.

There are many in that area that follow the Mediterranean diet, but all have a common basis: they are rich in unsaturated fat, and low in saturated fat, which is really bad for health.

The kitchens of the Mediterranean are based on use, and even abuse, of fruits and vegetables, grains, cereals and extra virgin olive oil simply from to fish and wine, little meat and reduced amounts of dairy.

The Spanish study showed that supplementation of extra virgin olive oil and nuts considerably raised the intake of polyphenols that protect against vascular lesions and their complications.

Looking in detail at the suggested diets, it became obvious that what really made the difference was the addition of olive oil and nuts. It was not clear what the role of the very real Mediterranean diet was in this context, since the amount of vegetable fat consumed by the three groups of volunteers were similar.

Moreover, the greatest impact on these diets was reduced mortality due to stroke. It seems that these diets effectively reduce the levels of blood pressure, which protects the brain from bleeding and obstructions.

The study is interesting, but could not test the real impact of the isolated Mediterranean diet, the more intense consumption of extra virgin olive oil or nuts. But the great merit of this research was to confirm that changes in habits such as diet can positively influence a person's chances of experiencing a heart attack or stroke.

Public authorities should act based on the results of this publication, it is also dependent on the imagination and enthusiasm of those responsible. Just remember that the main cause of deaths today are cardiovascular diseases.


Translated from the Portuguese version by:

Lisa Karpova
Pravda.Ru