In most industrialized nations, heart disease and cancer have replaced infectious diseases as the number-one killers, and medical experts have shifted their focus from vaccines and quarantines to diet and lifestyle. Yet the people who live near the Mediterranean Sea, who eat plenty of fruit, vegetables, and nuts, as well as consuming very little saturated fat, live longer on average and have less incidence of heart disease and cancer than Americans.
Many think that the diet makes the difference. Studies by European researchers looked at the effects of a Mediterranean diet on health.
In one study, the researchers studied data collected through different surveys of people whose ages were 70 to 90 from 13 different countries around the Mediterranean. They took into account smoking, drinking, and physical activity as well, so they could account for it. Researchers followed the participants for about 15 years to keep track of their lifespan.
In the second study, researchers recruited 180 people who were undergoing treatment for obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetic symptoms. Half of the participants went to a monthly small-group counseling session where they received individual advice about the benefits of a Mediterranean diet. The other half of participants had similar sessions, however they were given only general advice on how to eat a balanced diet, without being counseled on the Mediterranean Diet. This study lasted for two years and included blood tests, heart-rate measures, and other laboratory tests.
Both studies found a huge benefit to the Mediterranean Diet. In the first study, people who foods from the Mediterranean Diet increased their lifespans during the follow-up period by about 25 percent. People who followed the diet, were physically active, moderate drinkers, and hadn't smoked had less than half the mortality rate of others in the study.
In the second study, in the group that was counseled about the benefits of a Mediterranean diet, less than half still had symptoms of metabolic syndrome after the two years of study, where only ten percent of the other group had managed to control their symptoms. Even after controlling for weight, the researchers found that symptoms such as high blood pressure and sugar sensitivity went away. This showed that the Mediterranean Diet helps patients with metabolic disorder even when they don't lose weight.
These studies prove some of the strongest evidence ever obtained of the benefits of the Mediterranean Diet.
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