Mediterranean Diet Would Be Better Off Left Unimported

Perhaps it sounds as though the Mediterranean diet would be better off left unimported since two of its mainstays, olive oil and wine, would be of questionable value "plugged into" the American dietary pattern. However, there's no need to reject wholesale the adoption of Mediterranean eating habits. In fact, we would do well to follow suit in many, if not most, of their dining customs; much about the way Mediterranean's ate in the 1950s and 60s falls right in line with the 1993 dietary guidelines espoused by virtually every major health-promoting organization in this country. Consider the current call in the U.S. to cut back on saturated fat. Presently, saturated fat makes up some 13 percent of our calories, in large part because we eat large amounts of flesh foods--more than a half pound per person per day or upward of three and a half pounds per week. In the Mediterranean, on the other hand, saturated fat contributed only 7 to 8 percent of calories. It's not hard to see why. On Crete, the people had only about one ounce of red meat and poultry combined each day, or about half a pound per week. And in southern Italy, consumption of red meat, poultry, and fish came to just over two ounces a day, or less than a pound of flesh foods per week.

The difference in flesh food intake--and thereby saturated fat consumption--is highly significant, considering that some studies show that when people make various dietary modifications to reduce their risk for heart disease, the drop in saturated fat consumption by itself accounts for fully 60 to 80 percent of the drop in blood cholesterol levels. Another way of looking at it: even if Americans could cut back to no more than six ounces of flesh foods a day as the federal government's Dietary Guidelines recommend the beneficial changes in cholesterol would be substantial.

Along with just small amounts of meat, fish, and poultry, the people in Crete and southern Italy ate very little in the way of Trans fatty acids, which are formed when liquid vegetable oils are hardened via a process called hydrogenation and, like saturated fat, can raise blood cholesterol. What the rural residents of Crete and southern Italy did eat were about twice as many fruits and vegetables as Americans currently do. That's an important difference because fruits and vegetables are relatively high in soluble fiber--the kind found in oat bran--which is known to be helpful in keeping down blood cholesterol levels.

Of course, fruits and vegetables are also high in the anti-oxidant nutrients vitamin C and betacarotene, which some scientists believe may reduce the risk of heart disease by mitigating the negative effects of "bad" LDL-cholesterol. The thinking is that these anti-oxidants keep LDL-cholesterol from undergoing a process called oxidation, which makes it more likely to stick to artery walls and cause blockages that can stop the flow of blood to and from the heart. These same substances are believed, in addition, to help protect against biochemical changes that could promote the growth of various cancers.

Fruits and vegetables also contain a number of biologically active non-nutrient substances that are thought to possibly exert a health-promoting effect. These include compounds called bioflavonoids, anthocyanines, and tannins.


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