Mediterranean Diet is a Taste of Sunshine

We've known for years that the diet of people living near the Mediterranean Sea has many positive health effects, such as the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and several types of cancers.
Here's a quick glance at what makes the Mediterranean diet so healthy.

Even though there are as many versions of the Mediterranean diet as there are countries located in this beautiful region of the world, we can nevertheless give an overview of the Mediterranean dietary pattern. In general, this diet can be defined using nine major criteria, according to their frequency in the daily diet:

Foods consumed abundantly: Monounsaturated fats (olive oil), fruits, vegetables, legumes, grain products and fish.

Foods consumed moderately: Alcohol (red wine).

Foods consumed occasionally: Red meats, processed meats, milk and dairy products.

It therefore is an exemplary diet, rich in fruits and vegetables and in monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated omega-3 fats, in which the fibres or the cereals' complex sugars are the main sources of carbohydrates, and in which proteins primarily come from fish and legumes instead of red meats.

The first signs of the benefits associated with the traditional diet of countries that surround the Mediterranean emerged in studies conducted in the 1950s, which showed that the inhabitants of Crete, an island south of Greece, had a cardiovascular disease incidence five to 10 times lower than the inhabitants of America or Northern Europe.

GOOD CHOLESTEROL

This protective effect is largely due to the important place occupied by olive oil in the Mediterranean diet. Indeed, this oil is very rich in monounsaturated fats, and many studies have shown that replacing the saturated fats in the diet (red meats, butter, etc.) with these monounsaturated fats brings about a reduction of the total cholesterol level, especially the "bad" cholesterol (LDL cholesterol), while increasing the levels of the "good cholesterol" (HDL cholesterol).

Olive oil's good fats prevent the oxidation of the bad cholesterol, which reduces the damage caused to the blood vessels' walls and thus reduces the formation of clots that can cause strokes and myocardial infarctions.

Olive oil also stands out from other types of vegetable oils because of its content in phenolic compounds (hydroxytyrosol, for example) that have a strong antioxidant action.

Another important effect of the Mediterranean diet is its anti-inflammatory action. Indeed, the abundance of fruits, vegetables and foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids present in the diet blocks the production of several inflammatory molecules and thus helps reduce chronic inflammation.

In terms of cardiovascular disease prevention, this effect is extremely important since this chronic inflammation damages the blood vessels that irrigate the heart, which significantly increases the risk of ischemic diseases (lack of oxygen in the tissues). This inflammation reduction also plays a key role in cancer prevention by stopping cancer cells from growing and invading the organs in which they are found.

There is no argument that the Mediterranean diet's positive effect on cardiovascular diseases and cancer prevention has an important impact on the reduction of the mortality associated with these diseases. This protective effect was recently confirmed by a large-scale study conducted in the United States among 214,284 men and 166,012 women with an average age of 62 years.

The researchers observed that people who strictly followed the Mediterranean diet, i.e. those who adopted at least six of the nine characteristics of this diet, saw their risk of cardiovascular disease mortality reduce by 20% compared to those who didn't adopt this diet.

Followers of the Mediterranean diet also had a lower risk (17%) of developing cancer, which confirms once more how this diet can have beneficial health effects.

Once again, we can see how the moderation, the diversity and the fun associated with this diet are essential ingredients to prevent the development of chronic diseases and live a long life.

Dr. Richard Beliveau holds the Chair in the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer at the University of Quebec at Montreal, where he is a biochemistry professor.

SOURCE: http://www.edmontonsun.com/Lifestyle/Health/2008/03/10/4958471-sun.html