Eat Mediterranean Part 2…Live Longer and Healthier?

Remember that old beer commercial where drinkers argued about the best feature of their favorite "lite" brew? "Tastes great!" shouted one group. "Less filling!" retorted the other. Indeed, for many years now, it seems we have thought of every food as belonging to one of two opposing categories: good or good for you. There's carrot cake (with cream cheese frosting, of course) and then there's…carrots.

In the past few years, though, in the wake of the wildly swinging low fat/low carb pendulum, there has been new consideration of an old concept: food well-prepared from fresh ingredients can actually be tasty and healthy. Fruits, vegetables, olive oil, fish, poultry, nuts and grains—the basis for the Mediterranean diet I reviewed on this blog last week—not only makes for good eating but also, as several studies have shown, for healthier and longer lives.

Beginning in the 1950s, researchers suggested that the low rates of heart disease among inhabitants of rural Greece and Italy might be linked to the traditional Mediterranean diet.

As I mentioned last week, in 1994 the Lyon Heart Study evaluated the effect of a Mediterranean diet on heart disease. More than 600 patients who had a heart attack were randomly selected to eat either a traditional American Heart Association diet or a Mediterranean-style diet supplemented with a specially prepared spread that contained alpha linolenic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid). After only four years, the results of the study showed a significant difference in coronary events (heart attacks and stroke) in the groups who ate the Mediterranean diet versus the American Heart Association diet. The rate of coronary events was reduced by 73%, and total deaths were reduced by 70% in the Mediterranean-style group.

More recently, a study was published examining more than 22,000 adults in Greece and their adherence to the traditional Mediterranean diet. The data showed that the Greeks who had a higher degree of adherence to the diet had a significantly lower total death rate, and fewer deaths from heart disease and cancer.

In addition, randomized trials have shown that a Mediterranean diet has benefits for people with rheumatoid arthritis and may help reduce colon cancer recurrence, Alzheimer's disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

There was more encouraging news late in 2007, when the Archives of Internal Medicine published results from an American study. Using food consumption questionnaires collected as part of the National Institutes of Health–AARP Diet and Health Study, the researchers classified respondents by how closely their eating habits matched a Mediterranean diet and then tabulated deaths over the next 10 years. This was a huge study that included over 380,000 Americans with no history of chronic disease. When the researchers analyzed the data, they found that high conformity to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a lower risk of dying from any cause, heart disease, or cancer. The benefits of the diet were especially pronounced among smokers.

The Mediterranean diet may have all of these good effects because it quells the low-grade inflammation that underlies so many disease processes. It also has powerful antioxidant effects.

Though the Mediterranean diet is actually quite simple, many of us who have eaten a lot of processed food (even the 'healthy' kind) may feel intimidated by the prospect of peeling and chopping vegetables and preparing complicated recipes with unfamiliar ingredients.

A good place to start is by making some of the substitutions mentioned here last week, which include:

·         olive oil for butter on bread or when cooking eggs or vegetables

·         fruit instead of sweets

·         whole grains instead of white bread and rice

·         fish and poultry instead of red meat

When dining out head for Italian, Greek, Spanish, and Middle Eastern restaurants rather than steak houses. Then take a look at some cookbooks or go online to see if you can reproduce some of the bean, whole grain, fish and other dishes you tried when eating out. And pour a glass of red wine to go with your new favorites—that's part of the Mediterranean diet, too. Tastes great, and definitely less filling than beer.

Have you tried to incorporate Mediterranean-style foods into your diet? What do you think?

Dr. Suzanne Koven practices internal medicine with a special interest in weight issues at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and teaches at Harvard Medical School.

Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy
Millions of Americans concerned about healthy eating take their cues from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Guide Pyramid. But according to renowned Harvard nutrition researcher Dr. Walter C. Willett, "That's a shame, because the USDA Pyramid is wrong…Indeed, it actually steers you away from foods that can improve your long-term health."

Dr. Willett's national bestseller Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy serves as an alternative—and antidote—to the flawed new USDA Pyramid. The book explains how proper nutrition contributes to better health and longer life, and features a full range of recipes to help get you started.

Do you want to maintain a healthy weight? Connect with others with similar health concerns and issues. Click here to join the group.

This content is not intended to substitute for personalized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment from your healthcare provider. Read our full disclaimer.