Why it's a lot easier to eat a heart-healthy diet than you think
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It seems you can't open a magazine these days without running across an
article that tells you to "eat this, not that." And while I think it's
very important for us to make healthy food choices, new research is
showing that the "eat this" portion of the equation may be far more
important than the "not that" portion. In other words, eating healthy
food is likely to benefit us far more than eating unhealthy food is
going to hurt us.
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Research published earlier this year in the European Heart Journal
had some very interesting findings when it comes to the Mediterranean
diet, the traditional "Western" diet, and heart disease risk. This study
evaluated data from over 15,000 people with stable coronary artery
disease. The participants, who were age 67 on average, filled out a
lifestyle questionnaire that asked about the number of servings of a
variety of foods they consumed each week. The categories included meat,
fish, dairy, whole grains, refined grains, vegetables (potatoes didn't
count), fruit, desserts, sugary drinks, fried food, and alcohol.
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The researchers then gave each participant two scores, ranging from 0 to
24. For the Mediterranean diet score (MDS), the participants earned
points for eating healthy food. For the Western diet score (WDS), points
increased when they ate unhealthy foods.
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After almost four years, just over 10% of the study population had
experienced what the researchers called a major adverse cardiovascular
event (MACE) in the form of a heart attack, stroke, or death. The
researchers found those who had the high MDS scores were the least
likely to have experienced a MACE, with each unit increase in MDS score
representing a 7% decrease in MACE risk.
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This wasn't particularly surprising to the researchers — numerous
studies have shown the Mediterranean diet to have cardioprotective
effects. What was surprising, however, was that they didn't find any
connection between WDS score and MACE frequency. The researchers
concluded that rather than focusing so heavily on convincing people to
cut out "bad" foods, we should simply encourage them to add more "good"
foods to their diets.
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I think this could be an interesting approach. After all, the more
healthful foods you're consuming, the fewer "Western" foods you'll have
room for anyway. One simple way you can shift your diet toward a
Mediterranean approach is by making olive oil your fat of choice. Olives
and olive oil are staples of this diet, along with foods like fish,
produce, and whole grains.
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If you think you already consume a pretty healthy diet, but want to try
to bump up your MDS score a few more notches, you can give olive leaf
extract a try. It's a great natural option for lowering blood pressure
and will supplement the benefits of the MDS-friendly foods you're
already consuming. If you're interested in trying it, you'll find it in Mediterranean Cholesterol Formula, which will also help you avoid experiencing a MACE, just like the high-MDS-score study participants.
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Yours for better health,
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Frank Shallenberger, MD
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