The Mediterranean diet originated in countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain and consists of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, bread and olive oil, as well as red wine and herbs. The diet is also characterised by low levels of red meat and diary products. Cardiovascular disease shows geographical differences, with one area of low incidence being Mediterranean countries that have adopted the Mediterranean diet. The benefits of the Mediterranean diet includes improvements in blood lipids, blood pressure, body weight and insulin sensitivity. The antiinflammatory effects of the Mediterranean diet have also been investigated. For example, researchers1 compared the effects of 2 Mediterranean diets with those of a low fat diet on immune cell activation and inflammation in 106 individuals (43% women) with atherosclerosis who were at risk of cardiovascular disease or had diabetes.
Dietary advice was given and then subjects were assigned to one of three diets. The low fat diet aimed to reduce all types of fat according to the American Heart Association guidelines. The first Mediterranean diet allowed vegetables, fruit, legumes, nuts, seeds, fish, selected white meats, garlic and seafood. One of the Mediterranean diets was allocated 1L/wk of extra virgin olive oil and the other 30 g/d day of nuts. The results showed that after 3 months adhesion molecules and inflammatory markers had been reduced in both of the Mediterranean diet groups, but not the low fat diet. However, C-reactive protein only decreased after supplementation with virgin olive oil. In the low fat group, some inflammatory markers and adhesion markers increased. This suggests that the Mediterranean diets down regulate inflammatory pathways that might lead to atherosclerosis.
RdB
