The Mediterranean diet is seldom out of the news for its health benefits and now a new study has concluded that it “could prevent 19,000 deaths every year in the UK”.
The major study of UK eating habits studied nearly 24,000 people in Norfolk over an average period of 12 to 17 years. The work began in the 1990s.
The research, reported to be the first such in the UK, found that 12.5% of heart attack and stroke deaths which took place could have been prevented.
The Mediterranean style of eating is rich in olive oil, fruits, nuts, legumes, vegetables, some fish and dairy but little red or processed meat. And, as a bonus, it usually includes a small amount of red wine.
Chicken, eggs and limited dairy such as yoghurt and cheese are amongst the items. Deep fried food and pizzas slathered with cheese, however, are out.
One key element appears to be that none of the foods are processed or preserved. Another is sharing meals with family or friends. Spending time together over a meal is now widely understood to help people eat well and avoid excess, while the TV dinner habit is linked to obesity.
“We estimate that 3.9% of all new cardiovascular disease cases or 12.5% of cardiovascular deaths in our UK-based study population could potentially be avoided if this population increased their adherence to the Mediterranean diet,” Dr Nita Forouhi, lead author from the Medical Research Council epidemiology unit at the University of Cambridge, said.
The researchers paid particular attention to quantifying what foods consumed by the participants counted as “Mediterranean” and then devised a system to score the items, with 15 elements as the highest possible.
The maximum score of any participant was 13 while the lowest was just 3 items. Those with the higher scores were found to be less likely to get heart disease and to die from it, after adjusting for other factors such as weight and physical activity.
Forouhi emphasized that the health advantages come from consuming a “balance across the range of foods available to us”, rather than trendy “superfoods” of even cutting back on individual items such as sugar or fat.
She added that the study showed the Mediterranean style food is helpful for everyone.
In 2013, Unesco listed the Mediterranean diet as part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity in Cyprus, Croatia, Spain, Greece, Italy, Morocco and Portugal.
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