The Most Effective Components of the Mediterranean Diet

People living in Mediterranean-bordering countries have a lower likelihood of dying from cardiovascular disease than those from the northern parts of Europe – as I've noted before. Now a large study has analyzed the various factors in the so-called Mediterranean Diet, to see which ones are most responsible for the beneficial effects. It’s published in the British Medical Journal.

This was a prospective study, giving it more ‘relevance’ than many other studies; it was the Greek part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Data were obtained from over 23,000 healthy men and women on their diet and lifestyle, at entry; they were then interviewed periodically for an average of 8½ years. Their diets were scored from 0 to 10 according to how closely they followed a traditional Mediterranean diet.

There were 12,694 participants with a Mediterranean diet score of 0 to 4; 652 of them (5.1%) died during the follow-up period. There were 10,655 participants with scores of 5 or greater; this group had 423 deaths (4.0%). This difference was statistically significant, reiterating the benefit of the Mediterranean diet on mortality.

The factors that contributed most to this beneficial effect were: alcohol, low consumption of meat and meat products, high consumption of vegetables, fruits and nuts, more monounsaturated than saturated fats, and high consumption of pulse foods (beans, etc). The consumption of cereal, dairy, fish, and seafood had minimal effects on mortality.

So now you know. Once again, alcohol comes out amongst the ‘good guys’. Just remember, it’s a moderate alcohol intake that’s beneficial; anything more, and you’re on the wrong side of the J-curve.