Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan Cuts Heart Attacks Strokes

Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan Cuts Heart Attacks, Strokes

Results of the PREDIMED study, aimed at
assessing the efficacy of the Mediterranean diet meal plan in the primary
prevention of cardiovascular diseases, have been published in The New
England Journal of Medicine The New England Journal of Medicine New Engl J Med or NEJM is an English-language peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is one of the most popular and widely-read peer-reviewed general medical journals in the world.

They show that the Mediterranean diet meal plan supplemented with
extra-virgin olive oil or tree nuts reduces by 30 percent the risk of
suffering a cardiovascular death, a myocardial infarction or a stroke.

The study has been coordinated by the researcher Ramon Estruch,
from the Faculty of Medicine of the UB and the Hospital Clinic --
affiliated centers with the health campus of the UB, HUBc -- and has had
the collaboration of the professor Rosa M. Lamuela and her team from the
Natural Antioxidant Research Group of the Faculty of Pharmacy -- located
at the campus of international excellence BKC -- which determined the
biomarkers of Mediterranean diet meal plan consumption.

The research is part of the project PREDIMED, a multicentre trial
carried out between 2003 and 2011 to study the effects of the
Mediterranean diet meal plan on the primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
The study was funded by the Carlos III Health Institute by means of the
cooperative research thematic network RETIC RETIC Réseau des Entreprises en Technologies de l’Information et des Communications du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean Canada
RETIC Réseau d'Études et de Transfert Interne des Connaissances RD06/0045 and the CIBER CIBER Center for International Business Education and Research various locations
CIBER Center for International Business and Research Michigan State University
CIBER Cellular Inter-Carrier Billing Exchange Record of
Physiopathology.

A total of 7,447 people following major cardiovascular risk factors
participated in the study. They were divided into three dietary
intervention groups: a Mediterranean diet meal plan supplemented with extra-virgin
olive oil, a Mediterranean diet supplemented with nuts walnuts,
almonds, hazelnuts, and a low-fat diet animal and vegetable. A
dietician visited the patients every three months and they attended
dietary training group sessions, in which they received detailed
information about the Mediterranean diet meal plan, and the food
included in each one. Moreover, they were provided with shopping lists,
menus and recipes adapted to each type of diet and each season of the
year.

During the study, those participants who followed any of the two
types of Mediterranean diet meal plan received freely extra-virgin olive oil one
liter per week, and nuts 30 grams per day; 15 grams of walnuts, 7.5
grams of almonds and 7.5 grams of hazelnuts.

After five years, it has been proved that participants who followed
any of the two types of Mediterranean diet meal plan showed a substantial
reduction in the risk of suffering a cardiovascular death, a myocardial
infarction or a stroke.

According to the researchers, the results of PREDIMED study are
relevant as they prove that a high-vegetable fat diet is healthier at a
cardiovascular level than a low-fat diet. The authors state that the
study has been controversial as it provides new data to reject the idea
that it is necessary to reduce fats in order to improve cardiovascular
health.

Hopefully, these results will provide new references to prevent
cardiovascular diseases. In addition, the design and methodology used
can be easily transferred to the biomedical sector.






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