Mediterranean Diet for Heart Health

The Mediterranean Diet is still being touted as an excellent way to lower the risk of cardiovascular related deaths from myocardial infarction (heart attacks) or stroke. Recently, the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine published findings from a study that has become known as the PREDIMED study (which is an acronym for the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet study). The PREDIMED study took five years to complete and involved 7,447 people so the findings should be fairly representative of the general population.

The PREDIMED study showed that a Mediterranean diet containing extra-virgin olive oil and/or tree nuts such as hazelnuts, almonds, and/or walnuts may reduce the risk of death caused by cardiovascular disease by 30 percent. The study is explained this way because two groups, both consuming a Mediterranean diet with either extra-virgin olive oil or tree nuts, showed substantially less risk of suffering cardiovascular disease related death from myocardial infarction or stroke regardless of whether they ate olive oil or tree nuts. A similar group consuming a low-fat diet did not experience this large of a reduction in the risk of suffering cardiovascular death.

It is surmised that these findings are related to the ingestion of compounds called phenols, which would be fairly high in this type of diet. The importance of consuming phenols was demonstrated by a study that looked at people who consumed their regular diet, people who consumed their normal diet along with olive oil low in phenols, and people who consumed their normal diet along with olive oil high in phenols. The group consuming olive oil high in phenols experienced a number of positive health enhancing effects including reduced inflammation, reduced tumor production, reduced cancer risk, and lessened potential for cardiovascular disease. Variations in phenol content may be one explanation of why some olive oils offer a reduction in cardiovascular disease while other olive oils do not.

Is olive oil the only food that may offer a rich source of phenols to help prevent cardiovascular disease? Of course it is not. But many of the other foods high in phenols are not commonly found in the typical American diet though they definitely should be consumed on a regular basis.

Foods high in phenols include: black elderberry, black chokeberry, black currant, blueberry, globe artichoke heads, coffee, sweet cherry, strawberry, blackberry, plum, red raspberry, flaxseed, dark chocolate, chestnut, black tea, green tea, apple juice, apple, whole grain rye bread, hazelnut, red wine, soy yogurt, cocoa powder, and pomegranate juice. Other foods having respectable amounts of phenols include: black olives, spinach, pecans, black beans, red onions, broccoli, and soy milk.

However, consuming foods such as olive oil may offer benefits other than the effects from phenols. It is thought that the oleic acid found in olive oil is responsible for lowering blood pressure. Overall, it appears that a good plan for eating a heart healthy diet may be to consume olive oil and tree nuts along with other sources of monounsaturated fats such as those found in avocado to help prevent cardiovascular disease.