The Mediterranean Diet: More Than Just Delicious
Let's Break Down Why This Diet is Also Nutritious
Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean diet pattern has been associated with improving heart health, protecting against heart disease, gaining traction in supporting cognitive function, memory, and protecting against cancer. Modeled after the diets of those countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, this diet pattern carries numerous health benefits and continues to be the subject of health outcome-driven research. What is so unique about the nutrient profile of this diet pattern that enables it to confer all of these benefits?
A fruitful endeavor: Olive Oil and Unsaturated Fats
The main food groups of this diet pattern include oils, particularly olive oil, nuts and seeds, whole grains and legumes, fruits and vegetables, lesser amounts of animal protein (focusing on fish and poultry when consumed), and small amounts of dairy (eggs and yogurt) and red wine. Among these food groups, there are a few common nutrients that help to give this diet its health-conferring power, one of which is unsaturated fats. This group can be further divided into monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. For all of the chemistry and nutrition folks, the difference between these two is the number of double bonds along the fatty acid chain, hence giving rise to the name unsaturated. Saturated fatty acids or fats have no double bonds around the carbon atoms which means they are saturated with hydrogen atoms; foods that contain mostly this type of fatty acid and are, as a result, solid at room temperature (think butter and coconut oil). Sources of monounsaturated fats include olive oil, peanut oil, almonds, hazelnuts, avocados, pumpkin, and sesame seeds. Omega-3 fatty acids, found in polyunsaturated fats, are of particular significance, on a cellular level as part of cell membranes and act as beginning points of regulatory hormones that are involved with inflammation. On a systemic level, these fatty acids have been shown to help prevent heart disease and stroke, serve as building blocks for hormones that are involved in dilation and contraction of artery walls and blood clotting, and may aid in protection against cancer. Essential to the human diet as we do not produce them, some dietary sources of omega-3 fatty acids include fish (highest content in salmon-wild or farmed, sardines, anchovies, halibut, mussels, oysters and albacore tuna), flaxseed and flaxseed oil, walnuts, sunflower oil, canola oil, and chia seeds - a nutrition powerhouse and most concentrated plant source of omega-3 fatty acids. Of note, canola oil contains more monounsaturated fat than polyunsaturated fat though it is a notable source of the latter.
A 2013 Spanish study, PREDIMED, investigated the risk attenuating effects of placing men and women at high risk of cardiovascular events on one of three diets: A mediterranean diet supplemented with either extra virgin olive oil or mixed nuts, or a control diet. The primary endpoint for the study was the rate of major cardiovascular events, myocardial infarction, stroke, and death from cardiovascular causes; secondary endpoints were the same as primary with the addition of all-cause mortality. Data was collected from participants, initially free of cardiovascular disease for approximately 7 years. Researchers found a relative risk reduction of approximately 30% in the groups following the Mediterranean diet + extra virgin olive oil or mixed nuts. The authors concluded that adherence to Mediterranean diet patterns reduced the incidence of major cardiovascular events among high-risk individuals.
A deeper dive into the anti-Aegean Sea: Antioxidants
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