Mediterrean diet lengthens lives

[Daryl]

Eating the Mediterranean way could help you live longer, according to the first study to look at how the dietary pattern relates to mortality in a US population.

Men whose diets were closest to the Mediterranean ideal were 21 percent less likely to die over five years than men whose diets were least Mediterranean-like. Similar results were seen in women.

"These results provide strong evidence for a beneficial effect of higher conformity with the Mediterranean dietary pattern on risk of death from all causes, including deaths due to cardiovascular disease and cancer, in a US population," Dr. Panagiota N. Mitrou of the University of Cambridge in the UK and colleagues conclude.

A number of studies have linked the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in fish, fruits and vegetables and nuts and low in dairy foods and red meat, to health benefits, the researchers note in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

They looked at diet and mortality in 380,296 men and women, 50 to 71 years old, who were participating in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study.

For both men and women, the researchers found, the risk of death from any cause over the five-year follow-up period was lower for those with the most Mediterranean-like diets. Deaths from cancer or cardiovascular disease were also significantly lower in this group.

The benefit was especially strong in smokers who were not overweight, who nearly halved their risk of death if they closely followed the Mediterranean diet pattern. Smokers may have had the most to gain from the antioxidant and blood fat-lowering effects of Mediterranean-style eating, Mitrou and colleagues suggest.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, December 10/24, 2007.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071210/hl_nm/mediterranean_diet_dc

[NorthPeace]

A number of studies have linked the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in fish, fruits and vegetables and nuts and low in dairy foods and red meat, to health benefits...
I did this and it got me FG below 90, LDL below 100, Systolic below 120 and down 58 lbs.

[oakdryad]

A number of studies have linked the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in fish, fruits and vegetables and nuts and low in dairy foods and red meat, to health benefits, the researchers note in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

WHICH Mediterranean diet, may I ask? Because lamb (which is usually considered a red meat) is an integral part of several regional cuisines throughout the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. And *low* in dairy? WTF? Yogurt and cheese are both pretty common throughout the Mediterranean region.

This is some kind of fakey construct *diet.*

Whatever.

P.S., HI Daryl! :wave: I hope you're doing well!

[ojoj]

WHICH Mediterranean diet, may I ask? Because lamb (which is usually considered a red meat) is an integral part of several regional cuisines throughout the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. And *low* in dairy? WTF? Yogurt and cheese are both pretty common throughout the Mediterranean region.

This is some kind of fakey construct *diet.*

Whatever.



I was thinking exactly the same!! For starters, my recent trips to Spain and France, it seems their diet is pretty much the same as the US and UK these days. I assume the article is referring to the more traditional diets, in which case, they used to eat tons of red meat, yogurts, cheese, butter, oil, bread, pasta, pastries (yummy chocolate croissants!!!)....

I think what this article actually means is a diet which doesnt contain any processed junk - with the added usual "low fat" slant of course for good measure!!

[Daryl]

WHICH Mediterranean diet, may I ask? Because lamb (which is usually considered a red meat) is an integral part of several regional cuisines throughout the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. And *low* in dairy? WTF? Yogurt and cheese are both pretty common throughout the Mediterranean region.

This is some kind of fakey construct *diet.*

Whatever.

P.S., HI Daryl! :wave: I hope you're doing well!

:wave: Cynthia, I'm alright, thanks.

[Kiko2]

The <original Mediterranean diet> was principaly made of 3 elements: vegetable, fish and olive oil.

The rest of what we read was added slowly with years, depending on countries, preferences and availability. For ex: the greek used to eat 1 liter of olive oil per person per week and the article doesn't even mention olive oil... and it is uncorrect to suggest that all the pasta, pizza and bread eaten in Italy nowaday can be part of this diet because they are made of white flour which was invented during the second war...

It is soo strange that nobody talks about the old <Swiss Alps diet> full of cheese, cream, butter and meat with a few vegetables, diet high in saturated fat + cholesterol, and that these people had NO hearth problem and lived to be very old!!!

[Angeline]

Not strange, that would be politically incorrect to point out some populations do well on high fat. Bad enough, from their point of view, to have the press talk about the "French Paradox"

[NorthPeace]

Compared to the USA, the average Greek diet is higher in cereals, roots and tubers, fruits and vegetables (nearly 2x), and lower in sugar and sweeteners, meat and offals, and animal fats. Vegetable oil consumption for both countries is exactly the same, 16.6% of calories.

[pbowers]

one common feature of diets that tend to lead to improved health and longevity is that they don't induce high insulin release. typically, this is a result of just low energy consumption in general (see Okinawa), but as we all know can be achieved without calorie reduction and with exclusion of the so-called healthy foods (see cereals, roots and tubers, fruits and vegetables).

[CVH]

Mediterranean diets are high in foods from the animal kingdom too, this whole notion that it's all bout fruits, vegetables, grains and cereals is a load of s***.

[teaser]

Canadians have a life expectancy equal to or greater than France, Italy and Spain.

[NorthPeace]

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
Life Expectancy at Birth:
Andorra: 83.52 years, hmm...
Canada: 80.34 years
Greece: 79.38 years
France: 80.59 years
Italy: 79.94 years
Japan: 82.02 years, something fishy going on here...
Spain: 79.78 years
U.S.A.: 78 years

The source for my previous statements about Greece and USA was http://www.fao.org/statistics/yearbook/vol_1_1/pdf/d02.pdf