Pharmacist's Role in Mediterranean Diet

Community pharmacists have a wider role in health promotion than ever before. This expanded role takes a more holistic approach to health generally and includes alternative therapies and advice on lifestyle, as well as the more traditional role of advice on prescribed and non- prescribed medicines.

A relatively new area is advice on diet. The challenge is not just to advise patients taking medication for heart disease or high blood pressure, but to help all customers understand the benefits of a good diet, which may help prevent cardiovascular disease and some cancers.

The bonus of a glass or two of wine, particularly red wine, with meals makes the diet a pleasure to follow, not just for those at risk of heart disease or cancer. Community pharmacists can enjoy their role as advisers on lifestyle matters by recommending a Mediterranean-style diet.

Definition of Mediterranean Diet
The traditional (European) Mediterranean diet is characterized by an abundance of plant foods such as bread, pasta, vegetables, salad, legumes, fruit, nuts; olive oil as the principal source of fat; low to moderate amounts of fish, poultry, dairy products and eggs; only little amounts of red meat; low to moderate amounts of wine, normally consumed with meals. This diet is low in saturated fatty acids, rich in carbohydrate and fiber, and has a high content of monounsaturated fatty acids. These are primarily derived from olive oil.

There is strong evidence that a Mediterranean-style diet, in which olive oil is the main source of fat, contributes to the avoidance of cardiovascular risk factors like dyslipidaemia, hypertension, diabetes and obesity, and therefore to the prevention of CHD. Evidence also suggests that the Mediterranean diet protects against some cancers.

Action Plan
1) Record in your practice workbook exactly what foods you eat today. Find out the calorific value, the fat carbohydrate and protein values of each component and calculate these for your food intake today.

2) Calculate the various fat types in today's intake.


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