Evidence suggest that diet quality plays a significant role in the prevention of disease. High quality diets are now linked to protection from Western lifestyle diseases. Defining the composition of a healthy diet however, is difficult, because nutrition is highly complex. Genetic differences between individuals mean that what is right for one individual may not be right for another. In addition, healthy populations around the World can have quite different nutritional intakes and yet may still be considered healthy. The conclusion from the nutritional literature is that there is not therefore one single healthy diet, but a range of food and eating patterns that can produce health depending on individual circumstances. Having said that, one diet that consistently shows excellent health benefits is the Mediterranean style diet. The Mediterranean diet is composed of mainly plant foods such as whole grain cereals, fruits and vegetables, as well as olive oil, nuts, seeds, fish, small amounts of meat mainly from poultry as well as red wine.
The red wine component of the Mediterranean diet is of interest nutritionally because red wine has been shown to possess a number of unique health benefits. In particular consumption of alcohol decreases the risk of a myocardial infarction for about 24 hours post-consumption. Therefore regular consumption of red wine has a significant health effect in terms of reducing the risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease. Red wine also contains a number of phytochemicals including resveratrol, that are present in the original grape material, and this may provide further health benefits because many of these chemicals can act as antioxidants in humans and thus dissipate damaging free radicals. However, red wine may have other health benefits because alcohol consumption appears to be inversely associated with body weight. In other words as alcohol consumption increases the risk of being overweight decreases. The Mediterranean diet may therefore have weight loss effects because of the red wine is provides.
In fact a number of studies have shown that regular adherence to the Mediterranean diet produces body composition improvements. Undoubtedly some of this may originate from the fact that the diet is of high quality, and improves insulin sensitivity because of the antioxidants it contains. A number of clinical studies have shown that consuming a Mediterranean style diet for only a few weeks is able to provide significant weight loss effects without the need for restricting energy intake or performing exercise. Consuming a Mediterranean diet without alcohol may therefore provide weight loss effects because it is an healthy diet. However, the fact that alcohol is present in the traditional Mediterranean diet and has been shown to possess weight loss effects of its own suggest that some of the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet likely relate to the weight loss effects of the alcohol component of the diet. Regular consumption of alcohol along with a Mediterranean style diet is therefore recommended for those interested in losing weight.
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