BENEFITS OF MEDITERRANEAN DIET SOME FATS SEEM GOOD FOR THE HEART EATING LIKE MEDITERRANEAN PEOPLE

DIET GOOD FOR THE HEART LOW TRANS FAT SATURATED FAT HIGH OMEGA 3 OLIVE OIL LIKE MEDITERRANEAN DIET SEEMS BETTER FOR CORONARY HEART DISEASE

We know that certain types of fats and cholesterol are related to heart problems. Trans fats and saturated fats are discouraged. Trans fats lead to higher LDL, the bad cholesterol associated with coronary artery heart blockage. Doctors have noted that some people have less heart problems and coronary artery disease. People living around the shores of the Mediterranean Sea have in the past been noted to have less than expected amounts of coronary heart disease. Could it be what they eat? The latest study in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests yes.











The Mediterranean diet does not regard all fat as bad. In fact, the focus of the Mediterranean diet is not to limit total fat consumption, but rather to make wise choices about the type of fat in the diet. The Mediterranean diet is low in saturated fat. However, it views two types of fat, omega-3 fatty acids and monounsaturated fats as healthy and places no restrictions on their consumption. The omega-3 fatty acids are found in fatty fish (e.g, salmon, trout, sardines, tuna) and in some plant sources (e.g, walnuts and other tree nuts, flaxseed, various vegetables). Monounsaturated fat is abundant in olive oil, nuts, and avocados. Eating plenty of fruit, vegetables and fish instead of meat, not to mention olive oil rather than saturated fats.

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The study by Dr Panagiota N Mitrou (now of University of Cambridge, UK) and colleagues from the US National Cancer Institute appeared in the December 10/24, 2007 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. It confirms that among nearly 400,000 retired Americans, the closer they stuck to a Mediterranean diet, the better the outcome was. They looked at people with various levels of adherence to a Mediterranean diet.

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This was just the latest in a line of studies to determine if components of the so called Mediterranean Diet, a dietary pattern based on food patterns typical of many regions in Greece and southern Italy in the early 1960s could account for this observation.

For example, "The Lyon Diet Heart Study enrolled 605 patients who had survived a heart attack. After 4 years, the patients who were eating a Mediterranean diet containing increased levels of both alpha-linolenic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid) and monounsaturated fats (from olive oil and nuts) had a 55% reduction in risk of death and a 50% to 70% decreased risk of recurrent cardiac events, compared with patients who were eating a control diet . The benefits were not explained by changes in lipid parameters."



Understanding the Mediterranean Diet. Again the closer people adhered to the Mediterranean diet, the lower their levels of inflammation, which recent research shows plays a major role in development of heart disease.

Lyon Diet Heart Study