What just a Little bit of ‘Mediterranean’ can do for you!

I want to challenge you to try something new starting tomorrow or even today if you have not eaten yet. Anything you decide to cook from now on, replace whatever vegetable oil that may be recommended and try cooking with olive oil. According to some research done on 26,000 Greeks, scientists were able to find that just by these individuals using more olive oil in their diet they were able to cut the risk of cancer by 9%. It’s quite fascinating to know that just by including more of this healthy oil into your diet can help you reduce your chances of developing certain cancers. Throughout their study, these scientists concluded that just by including “a couple of elements of the Mediterranean diet [this] could cut the risk of cancer by 12%.” It’s better to start off little than to not do anything at all. It really doesn’t take much effort just to replace your cooking oil. So let us get this straight; here are the basics when it comes to improving your health:

• Eating more unsaturated fats such as olive oil reduces your risk of cancer by 9%

And to further achieve the benefits that the Mediterranean Diet:

• Eating less red meat and more “peas, beans, and lentils, [can] cut the risk of cancer by 12%”

Another addition to your life you might want to consider is adding broccoli into your diet. Studies have shown that broccoli fights against heart disease and stops prostate cancer. The Mediterranean diet praises “higher amounts of fruits [and] vegetables…” and broccoli has appeared to be a very beneficial vegetable especially for men that are vulnerable to prostate cancer. Scientists were able to test the benefits of these vegetables by comparing the “effects of adding 400 grams of broccoli or peas a week” in diets of men that were at a greater risk of developing prostate cancer. Researchers found that the individuals that were tested by eating broccoli had a change in the “activity of genes” in their prostate. Broccoli is not the only vegetable that they believe they could find changes in; “their findings raised the possibility [that] other ‘cruciferous’ vegetables, such as cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, could help prevent or slow down the disease” if the patient were to have a particular “gene variant.” What I want all of you to take from this is that just by changing little things in your life can hugely impact you in advantageous ways.

Reference: [1]:

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7483164.stm>

Younger Generation goes Mediterranean

Western Crete, a small town in Greece, is considered to be the birthplace of the Mediterranean Diet, and is having a huge dilemma with the younger children in a place where individuals were brought up eating “fresh produce and fish” instead of from places such as “chocolate shops, pizza places, ice cream parlors…and fast-food joints.” Instead of eating healthy like the Greeks have in the past, they have succumbed to their fear of a more westernized civilization of junk food and poor eating habits. It is very critical for the younger generation to know the importance of having good eating habits while maintaining a healthy living style. Dr. Michalis Stagourakis noticed that in Kasteli, Greece there has been a huge transformation in the way the people in the Mediterranean region are eating; specifically “a changing diet [producing] an epidemic of obesity and related maladies.”

Sadly in Europe, nowadays the Mediterranean diet is hard to find in the places where it once originated from; instead it’s easier to find the healthier cooking at “restaurants of London and New York.” Of course you can always go to the supermarket to get the foods that you need to create a healthy Mediterranean dish, and there are even cheap frozen Mediterranean dinners for those that are fairly busy. Take a look at my previous blogs to get more information on foods on the go and previous recipes from Chef Maria Liberati. It is quite ironic how the Mediterranean diet that we know to be “associated with longer life spans and lower rates of heart disease and cancer” is being transitioned to a younger generation of about two-thirds of overweight children. Someone commented that it’s quite scary that individuals, from where this healthy diet originated from, used to live until they were around 100 and now “you see kids whose longevity is less than their parents.”

Out of concern, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations decided to focus on this growing problem and help educated people on what used to be the ever so popular Mediterranean Diet. Due to overall unhealthiness of the children in this area that they focused on in Greece, the Greek government decided to educate them. They were lectured on nutrition and taught lessons that included the food pyramid, specifically focusing on the Mediterranean diet. Interesting statistics to know is that in Greece “three-quarters of the adult population is overweight or obese” and in the United States “66 percent of adults older than 20 were overweight in 2004, and 31.9 percent of children 2 through 19 were overweight in 2006.” Greece and the United States differ in the way that they eat in general but surprisingly in Greece the growing number of children getting “fat” is quite shocking. Interestingly enough, the older generation is more shocked at younger generation due to the fact that “Greece had for so long been a poor nation where hunger was a recurrent problem” and another striking fact to note is that in the United States “obesity is more pronounced in adults than in children” while, like we have discussed previously, in the Mediterranean region weight problems is more prevalent in the younger generation. Obviously living in a village in Greece is quite different than growing up in a city like Los Angeles or New York. If we combine the methods from the Greeks and use that in our younger generation in the United States, we will be educating and perhaps preparing our children for a healthier future. Why not help prevent our children from having coronary heart disease when they are much older, or perhaps from having cancer. If we start with the younger generation it will be beneficial to us all in the long run.

Reference: [1] Rosenthal, Elisabeth. “Fast Food Hits Mediterranean; a Diet Succumbs.” The New York Times. 23 Sep. 2008.

Antioxidants and the Mediterranean Diet

Italian Researchers, Drs. Francesco Visioli and Claudio Galli, decided to take a look at the importance of antioxidants and the role it plays in the Mediterranean Diet. This research was conducted at the University of Milan in Italy. The researchers pointed out specifically that the traditional Mediterranean diets are a bit different from how diets are portrayed in Northern Europe and American diets. Something that particularly stands out is the fact that the traditional Mediterranean diets “include a significantly large amount of plant foods…[and] this notable difference between the two eating styles…has been associated with a lower risk of developing coronary heart disease and certain cancers.”

Something that may contribute to having coronary heart disease is having “high plasma cholesterol levels” which can be found in other popular diets in the US for example compared to the healthy eating style portrayed from the traditional Mediterranean Diet. These foods that are involved in the Mediterranean Diet have one of the best things your body could ask you for, and that would be; antioxidants. Antioxidants and its “excessive free radical production” have shown in a great number of studies that they have been linked to a reduction of the diseases that we have mentioned earlier. Through the research that these Italian scientists have conducted we are going to get into more depth about how the abundance of “fruits, vegetables, breads, nuts, seeds, wine and olive oil” have a great impact on individuals and their relation to “human disease.”

There are several different kinds of antioxidants; some of the antioxidants that these researchers focused on and its involvement with the Mediterranean diet are, “tocopherols, carotenoids, flavonoids, and polyphenols.” Again, unlike many other diets out there, the huge benefit of the Mediterranean diet is that it focuses much of its attention on fruits and vegetables and other many ingredients that are “rich in vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals” that represent a “major source of antioxidants.” Let’s take a closer look at the specific antioxidant vitamins and how they contribute to specific diseases:

(1) Tocopherols

This particular antioxidant can be found in “nuts, wheat germ, vegetable oils (i.e., seed oils), margarine, mayonnaise, butter, and eggs.” Epidemiologic studies have shown a correlation between the intake of tocopherol and its protection against coronary heart disease and certain cancers.

(2) Carotenoids

The great thing about carotenoids is its special relationship with Vitamin A. They are found in “heavily pigmented fruits and vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, red peppers, and pumpkins” which are very commonly used in meals prepared particularly inspired by the Mediterranean diet. Epidemiologic studies have shown that plasma levels of carotenoids are “positively correlated with a lower incidence of [coronary heart disease] and lung cancer.”

[3] Vitamin C

Citrus fruits are a great provider of Vitamin C. Popular fruits in this category consist of oranges, tangerines, grapefruits and lemons. Leafy vegetables are also a great source of this. A very important fact to know is that Vitamin C is actually the “principal antioxidant of human plasma.”

[4] Phytochemicals (nonvitamin antioxidants)

Polyphenols fall into the category of phytochemicals and are very abundant in the Mediterranean diet especially when it comes to “its high proportion of fruits and vegetables and to the consumption of red wine and olive oil.” Wine, when consumed moderately, have been known to have beneficial effects to an individual’s health especially from the protection from coronary heart disease. We have talked previously on how great olive oil is and how you should make olive oil your best friend.

Overall, these scientists believe in the benefits of antioxidants but they do suggest that your best bet is to follow a healthful diet, such as the Mediterranean Diet, and make sure to consume your body with an “abundance of…fruits, vegetables, [moderation of] wine, and olive oil” and you’re on a healthier path for tomorrow.







Reference: (1) Visioli, Francesco and Galli, Claudio. “The Role of Antioxidants in the Mediterranean Diet.” Lipids, Vol.36, Supplement (2001).

Allergies and the Mediterranean Diet

British Studies are showing that the Mediterranean Diet’s aspect of having antioxidant-rich foods is linked to the prevention of allergies and asthma symptoms. Scientists conducted a survey for children that are specifically from the Greek Island of Crete just to get an idea of their eating habits and how their body is functioning regularly. On a normal basis these children were eating “at least twice a day, [and] eight out of 10 children ate fresh fruit, and two-thirds ate fresh vegetables.” These children that followed a healthy eating style showed great benefits specifically towards ‘respiratory problems.’ Another interesting find was that the children who followed this healthy eating habit also showed that they were “less likely to develop air or skin allergies, or asthma symptoms.”

A lot of people seem to think that having allergies or asthma is not a serious condition. The funny thing is that you may think that you don’t have it and eventually develop symptoms for allergies or asthma as you grow older. The knowledge of this study could benefit all of us and it has made me aware of how I should go about my eating habits as well, especially if it is able to help me with these symptoms. At the end of August I began to have symptoms that I have never had in my life. Granted my mom does have Asthma and severe allergies so I’m sure she passed that on to me but it came out of no where. When an individual is suffering from asthma or allergies “their lungs [are] constantly bombarded by foreign bodies, or allergens in the air… [and when] these allergens enter the body, the immune system believes they are harmful….In an effort to protect itself, the body sends out antibodies to fight off the allergens.” It is important to be aware of your health and others around you because you may never know one day when it could possibly affect you.

Several doctors from London believe that everyone’s body needs to have some sort of balance, for instance “a balance between what we breathe in, and the body’s reaction.” Also when it comes to children, these doctors state that most children do not have allergies and an explanation to why they probably do suffer from this problem is because of their unbalanced diet. If this is what doctors seem to believe then the only thing one could think to do is to help other individuals have a healthy balanced diet. That’s where the Mediterranean diet comes into play. We all know, or if you don’t I’m letting you know, that the Mediterranean diet contains plenty of healthy foods and the power of these antioxidants is supreme. These antioxidants are believed to do a lot of good to many areas of the body; “antioxidants are known for their disease-fighting ability…[and] they work to sop-up the so-called free radicals left over in the body as a byproduct of a cell’s day-to-day functions.”

Honestly though, what more could you ask for? Studies have shown that “antioxidants are good for heart disease, good for cancer, and how asthma as well.” It’s a NO-Brainer! The Mediterranean Diet contains plenty of antioxidants. What else? Antioxidants help fight bad things in our body! I say, start the Mediterranean diet and give it a try. You will thank yourself for it ten years from now when you’re looking 20 years younger than all of your friends that didn’t listen to you. Start focusing on a healthy new you and get rid of the bad eating habits. You can do it!

Reference: (1) Owings, Laura. “Mediterranean Diet May Prevent Allergies.” ABCNews Internet Ventures. 2008. 5 April 2007 <http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Story?id=3008436&page=1>

Mediterranean Diet Focus in Greece

Studies have shown that the Mediterranean Diet ‘reduces fatality’ in individuals that suffer from coronary heart disease. With that focus, researchers, Drs. Trichopoulou, Bamia and Trichopoulos, analyzed this assumption to show how advantageous the Mediterranean Diet could be to individuals who decide to pursue a healthy eating life style. Research previously done by a fellow named Keys stated that the reason the Mediterranean Diet was indeed such a beneficial diet in regards to coronary heart disease is because the “diet [is] low in saturated lipids that conveyed protection…by lowering plasma cholesterol levels.” For those of you that do not know what plasma is; it is basically the liquid component of your blood. Now researchers feel as if the diet has shifted away from “low content of saturated lipids” and are now focusing on “high content of olive oil and…toward its overall…characteristics.” Instead of just focusing primarily on coronary heart disease the Mediterranean Diet is able to “include possible effects on total mortality” which would be more helpful in learning what the Mediterranean Diet can do to someone if they stick to this healthy lifestyle for a long term process.

It’s quite fascinating to learn and follow how researchers go about these kinds of studies. The way in which these scientists went about this study is that they used 1302 Greek men and women and followed up on them for an average of about 4 years. They looked to see the relationship between someone who was able to stick to the Mediterranean Diet and to what degree and its association to individuals diagnosed with coronary heart disease. The main purpose is to see the survival rates of these individuals that stuck with and followed the traditional Mediterranean Diet. Through several scientific methods and intensive researcher these doctors were able to conclude what they had thought from the get go. They were able to show that there is in fact “greater adherence to the traditional Mediterranean diet [and] is associated with a significant reduction in mortality among individuals diagnosed as having coronary heart disease.” Please check out the reference below if you are interested in following up with these doctors’ research.

Reference:

(1) Trichopoulou, A., Bamia, C., and Trichopoulos, D. “Mediterranean Diet and Survival Amont Patients with Coronary Heart Disease in Greece.” Arch Intern Med. 2005’ 165: 929-935.

New Season. New You: Analyzing the Mediterranean Diet

This season of blogs will be concentrating more on the many researchers and scientists out there that are focusing their studies on the Mediterranean Diet and its effects on the many individuals that choose to live the Mediterranean life style. Occasionally I will give tips and recipes that you might be interested in indulging your taste buds in. By following and appreciating the research involving the Mediterranean Diet I hope to encourage you or any of your fellow friends, neighbors, and family to give it a try and spread the word on how much impact this diet can have on your life. If you’re currently living the Mediterranean lifestyle I hope that you recognize the importance and how much better the quality of your life could be just by changing some possible nasty habits for instance. It is not hard to follow this life style; take a look at my past blogs and get and idea of what the Mediterranean Diet has to offer. Let’s start this blog off right with research done by Francesco Sofi and colleagues.

The finalized published study done by these researchers titled their work as, “Adherence to Mediterranean diet and health status: meta-analysis,” and the purpose of this study was to review “all the prospective cohort studies that have analyzed the relation between adherence to a Mediterranean diet, mortality, and incidence of chronic diseases in a primary prevention setting.” Basically the study is there to show the benefits of what happens when you stick to a diet such as the ‘Mediterranean Diet’ in regards to the many chronic disease that many individuals continue to suffer with. The analysis focused on research that was done in this field from 1966 to June of 2008.

This included 12 studies on a total of “1,574,299 subjects followed for a time ranging from three to 18 years.” The researchers concluded that the Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of developing Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease and lowers the chances of suffering and dying from a cardiovascular disease or cancer. Overall, by sticking to a Mediterranean diet you are significantly ‘improving your health status.’ Life is about being healthy, happy and doing well for yourself and others. Why not take better care of yourself and start making others aware of the importance of a greater and healthier life.

Reference: (1) Sofi F, Cesari F, Abbate R et al. Adherence to Mediterranean diet and health status: meta-analysis. BMJ 2008; 337: a1344. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.a1344

Mediterranean Diet and Longevity

Statistics have shown that there is very clear evidence that the Mediterranean population live a beneficial life; those who follow their ‘way of life’ when it comes to eating healthy will be rewarded tremendously throughout their life. Studies done by researchers over the past three decades concluded that following the Greek version of the Mediterranean diet is associated with longer survival. Researchers collected data from three studies to ensure that the Mediterranean diet is in fact a great asset to an individual’s daily life. To refresh your memory or for anyone who does not know much about the Mediterranean diet, the diet originates from the Greeks who consume a fair amount of olive oil and high portions of vegetables and fruits.

Amazingly, studies have shown that “death rates in the Mediterranean region were generally lower and adult life expectancy [were] generally higher in comparison to the economically more developed countries of northern Europe and North America….” The Mediterranean diet along with its healthy benefits has proven to show that it has a good effect on a ‘range of diseases.’ According to the studies done by Trichopoulou et al (1995), there are ‘eight desirable key features’ that are presented in the traditional diet in the Mediterranean area. These eight components are listed as:

(1) high monosaturated-to-saturated fat ration

(2) moderate ethanol consumption

(3) high consumption of legumes

(4) high consumption of cereals (including bread)

(5) high consumption of fruits

(6) high consumption of vegetable

(7) low consumption of meat and meat products

(8) moderate consumption of milk and dairy products

Another great aspect of the Mediterranean diet is the fact that the food associated with this diet usually consists of a great amount of antioxidants. Antioxidants have been proven to greatly benefit an individual’s health. Greens (vegetables, salads, etc.) that are eaten and cooked in a healthy way contain a great amount of flavonoids which is said to be “considerably higher than those found in red wine and black tea.” Flavonoids are known for their antioxidant properties and sometimes are called blioflavonoids. The Mediterranean diet allows for a healthy moderation of red wine which has also shown its benefits in many other studies as well.

References:

(1) Trichopoulou A & Vasilopoulou E (2000): Mediterranean diet and longevity. B J. Nutr. 84(Suppl), S205–S209.

(2) Adherence to a Mediterranean diet and survival in a Greek population. A. Trichopoulou, T. Costacou, C. Bamia, et al., N Engl J Med, 2003, vol. 348, pp. 2599--2608