Strict Mediterranean Diet Offers Big Health Boost

The researchers also developed an `adherence` score to rate how well people followed the Mediterranean Diet.

Sticking strictly to a Mediterranean diet rich in fruits and vegetables offers substantial protection against cancer, heart disease and other major chronic illnesses, Italian researchers said on Friday.

People who did this had a 9 percent drop in death from heart disease, a 13 percent reduction in incidence of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease and a 6 percent reduction in cancer compared to those who were not as diligent, their study found.

"These results seem to be clinically relevant for public health, particularly for encouraging a Mediterranean-like dietary pattern for primary prevention of major chronic diseases," wrote Francesco Sofi, a clinical nutrition researcher, and colleagues at the University of Florence.

The traditional Mediterranean diet is full of vegetables, fish and healthy fats such as olive oil, and low in red meat, dairy products and alcohol.

Sofi and his team reviewed 12 international studies which included more than 1.5 million people whose eating habits and health were tracked for follow-up periods of three to 18 years.

The researchers also developed an "adherence" score to rate how well people followed the Mediterranean diet, a tool they said doctors could use to help improve people's health and encourage them to eat better.

"The adherence score...could be an effective preventative tool for reducing the risk of mortality and morbidity in the general population," they wrote.


Source Javno Health News

Copyright 2009

Mediterranean Diet Fights Depression

People who practice the Mediterranean diet have 30% less chances of getting depressed than those who don’t.

People who practice the so-called Mediterranean diet, that is, people whose menus are rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains and fish, are at a lower risk of developing depression, Reuters writes.

The research conducted by Spanish scientists, found that those who ate the Mediterranean diet reduced the risk of depression by as much as 30 percent compared to those who didn’t.

Mediterranean Diet reduces the risk of diabetes

- The specific mechanisms that prevent the occurrence of depression, are still not known - Almudena Sanchez-Villegas from the University of Las Palmas, which conducted this study, said.

However, she states that elements of the diet can greatly improve cardiovascular function, restore damaged cells in the body, and reduce the development of depression.

The advantage of the Mediterranean diet, the experts note, is also that it reduces the risk of diabetes, asthma and cancer. Scientists obtained this data by analyzing the questionnaire that was filled by 11,000 persons.


Source Javno Health News

Copyright 2009

Mediterranean Diet Can Protect You From Alzheimer

Mediterranean Diet 'Can Protect From Alzheimer's'

Eating a Mediterranean diet can protect the brain against developing Alzheimer's and other memory problems, a new study suggests.

Scientists found that patients who were already suffering from problems with recall, which can be an early indicator of the disease, were less likely to be diagnosed with dementia if they followed a diet high in fish, oil and vegetables. Those who had no memory problems were also less likely to suffer them over the almost five years of the study.

The researchers believe that the benefits of the diet could help to prevent the transition from early problems with memory, known as mild cognitive impairment, to full blown dementia.

Individual components of the diet could be responsible for the effect, they believe.

"For example, potentially beneficial effects for mild cognitive impairment or mild cognitive impairment conversion to Alzheimer's disease have been reported for alcohol, fish, polyunsaturated fatty acids and lower levels of saturated fatty acids," according to the study.

The results of the latest study, published in the Archives of Neurology journal, show that those who adhered most closely to the diet were 48 per cent less likely to slip from mild cognitive impairment into dementia than those who ate a normal diet.

Among those who had no such memory problems, eating a strict Mediterranean diet cut their chances of developing mild cognitive impairment by 28 per cent.

"Among behavioural traits, diet may play an important role in the cause and prevention of Alzheimer's disease," according to the study authors, Dr Nikolaos Scarmeas and his team, from Columbia University, New York.

The study gave patients a score for how closely their diet resembled that of a typical Mediterranean diet, which contains lots of fish, vegetables, fruits and cereals, as well as low levels of dairy, meat and saturated fats, and just small amounts of alcohol.

The study followed 1,393 volunteers who had no memory problems and 482 patients already diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment.

A typical Mediterranean diet may improve cholesterol levels, the amount of sugar in the blood and even reduce inflammation in the body, all of which could help mild cognitive impairment, according to the researchers, who called for other studies to confirm their findings.

Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "Diet almost certainly plays a part in every person's Alzheimer's risk – and diet remains a magnet for research because it could offer a relatively inexpensive way to fight a disease that ruins countless lives.

"By reducing salt and saturated fat intake and adding oily fish and lots of fruit and vegetables to our shopping baskets, we can help reduce the risk of developing dementia as well as reaping the countless other benefits of living a healthy lifestyle."

More than 700,000 people in Britain suffer from dementia, of which around 400,000 have Alzheimer's, the most common form of the condition.

Source: UK Daily Telegraph - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/4569592/Mediterranean-diet-can-protect-from-Alzheimers.html

Mediterranean Diet 'Can Protect From Alzheimer's'

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