Mediterranean Diet Fights Coronary Heart Disease

Data from a recent study (Arch Intern Med. 2007 Jun;167:1195-1203) provided further evidence that a traditional Mediterranean diet (TMD) is a useful tool against coronary heart disease (CHD).

A total of 372 subjects at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease-210 women and 162 men, age 55 to 80 years, were recruited in the multi-center, randomized, controlled, parallel-group clinical trial (the Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea [PREDIMED] Study).

Testing the efficacy of the TMD on primary prevention of CHD, researchers assigned participants either a low-fat diet or one of two TMDs-TMD with virgin olive oil or TMD with nuts. The TMD participants received nutritional education and either free virgin olive oil for the entire family (1 L/week) or free nuts (30 g/d); diets were ad libitum. Changes in oxidative stress markers were evaluated at three months.

Mean (95 percent confidence intervals) oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels decreased in the TMD with virgin olive oil and TMD with nuts groups, without changes in the low-fat diet group. Change in oxidized LDL levels in the TMD with virgin olive oil group reached significance versus that of the low-fat group. Malondialdehyde changes in mononuclear cells paralleled those of oxidized LDL; no changes in serum glutathione peroxidase activity were observed.

Researchers noted that when individuals at high cardiovascular risk changed their diet to include a TMD, significant reductions in cellular lipid levels and LDL oxidation were observed. "Results provide further evidence to recommend the TMD as a useful tool against risk factors for CHD," they concluded.

BARCELONA, Spain 

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