The health benefits of Mediterranean cuisine

Question
Hello,

I'm a college student writing a paper on Mediterranean cuisine and it's cardiovascular benefits, and I was wondering if you could tell me some scientific reasons as to why these types of foods are so heart-healthy?

Answer
Hi Melinda,

The traditional Mediterranean diet is characterized by a high intake of vegetables, legumes, fruits and nuts, and cereals, and a high intake of olive oil but a low intake of saturated lipids, a moderately high intake of fish, a low-to-moderate intake of dairy products (and then mostly in the form of cheese or yogurt, which contain friendly bacterial probiotics), a low intake of meat and poultry, and a regular but moderate intake of wine. (Source: Am J Clin Nutr 1995;61:Suppl 6:S1402-S1406)

In another research, an greater adherence to Mediterranean diet was associated with lower death rates due to coronary heart disease and death due to cancer. There was no associations between any single food groups of the Mediterranean diet and total mortality, so it's a sum of the diet features that seems to work. (Source: nejm, 2003, 348:2599-2608)     

Read more:

The Health Benefits of Mediterranean Diet
http://atkinszone.com/atkinstothezone/2008/03/health-benefits-of-mediterranean-d...

Tanya Zilberter

1. Prev:Tryptophan from whey protein versus 5-HTP
2. Next:Mediterranean Cuisine