Michael T. Murray and Michael R. Lyon
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 THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET
The traditional mediterranean diet provides significant protection against silent inflammation. However, it does not mean you should eat more Italian restaurant food. The mediterranean diet reflects food patterns in the early 1960s typical of Crete, parts of the rest of Greece, and southern Italy. This diet has shown tremendous benefit in fighting heart disease and cancer, as we .1 as diabetes. |
Michael Pollan
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 The Lyon Diet Heart Study found that the mediterranean diet, when compared to a Western diet, offered protection against a second heart attack during the four years patients were followed. (Michel de Lorgeril et al., "Mediterranean Diet,Traditional Risk Factors, and the Rate of Cardiovascular Complications after Myocardial Infarction," Circulation, 1999:99; 779-85.)
« HAVE A GLASS OF WINE WITH D I N N E R . Wine may not be the X factor in the French or mediterranean diet, but it does seem to be an integral part of those dietary patterns. |
Jack Challem
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 These dietary recommendations are essentially our version of the mediterranean diet. We emphasize high-quality protein such as chicken and fish and a lot of high-fiber vegetables and fruits, olive and macadamia nut oils, and vinegar, but much less starch than in the traditional mediterranean diet.
You will be able to find many healthy equivalents in natural food stores such as Whole Foods, Wild Oats, and Vitamin Cottage. For example, most commercial brands of mayonnaise, such as Kraft, use soybean oil, which is not as healthy as other oils. |
Tori Hudson, N.D.
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 The mediterranean diet has also been shown to have beneficial effects on risk factors for cardiovascular disease and may even exceed that of the low-fat diet. Compared with a low-fat diet, three months on a mediterranean diet that included olive oil (one liter per week) or packets of walnuts, hazelnuts, and almonds decreased cardiovascular risk factors.157 Both of these diets were associated with significant reductions in blood pressure, lower fasting glucose levels, lower insulin levels in those without diabetes, lower triglycerides, increased HDL-C, and lower C-reactive protein levels. |
Michael Pollan
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| Michel de Lorgeril et al., "Mediterranean Diet,Traditional Risk Factors, and the Rate of Cardiovascular Complications after Myocardial Infarction," Circulation, 1999:99; 779-85.)
« HAVE A GLASS OF WINE WITH D I N N E R . Wine may not be the X factor in the French or mediterranean diet, but it does seem to be an integral part of those dietary patterns. There is now abundant scientific evidence for the health benefits of alcohol to go with a few centuries of traditional belief and anecdotal evidence. |
Bottom Line Health
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| During the next four years, the people who were counseled to eat the mediterranean diet developed 72% less heart disease than those in the prudent-diet group. There were 56% fewer deaths in the group that was counseled to eat the Mediterranean diet—that's two to three times the benefit achieved by statin drugs.
The same holds true for exercise. A study conducted at the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas looked at 25,000 men who had undergone physical exams. |
Tori Hudson, N.D.
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| What this tells me is that an even more rigorous diet and lifestyle changes need to be achieved in order to improve risk factors and reduce CVD risk.
The mediterranean diet. The mediterranean diet, perhaps one of the healthiest diets in the world, emphasizes increased fiber, olive oil, fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes and decreased refined cereals, meat products, eggs, and saturated fats. This diet has been shown to have a beneficial effect on cardiovascular health in a number of large studies. |
Bottom Line Health
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| Heart attack patients were randomly counseled to eat a mediterranean diet (high in unprocessed grains, fruits, vegetables and olive oil.. very low in red meat, dairy fat and cholesterol) or a "prudent" post-heart attack diet (no more than 30% of calories from total fat and no more than 10% from saturated fat).
During the next four years, the people who were counseled to eat the mediterranean diet developed 72% less heart disease than those in the prudent-diet group. |
James Dowd and Diane Stafford
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 You can accomplish this with the Vitamin D Cure eating plan, which, like the DASH diet and the mediterranean diet, asks you to eat more vegetables and fruits (these provide large amounts of antacid). With these diets, you also take in greater amounts of omega-3 fatty acids compared to omega-6 fats and saturated fats, so these things all synch up to produce excellent health benefits.
Going Paleolithic
The big advantage of the Vitamin D Cure eating plan is that it takes the DASH and Mediterranean diets one step farther. Here's how the idea evolved. |
Jonny Bowden, M.A., C.N.S.
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 The author points to the benefits of the mediterranean diet, an eating regimen that has long been touted as healthy by many nutritionists. This diet is high in fish, nuts, lean proteins, vegetables, and especially monounsaturated fat. The classic mediterranean diet "does not regard all fat as bad," and, in fact, doesn't limit fat consumption at all. It does, however, specify which fats to eat and which to avoid (more on this in a moment).The primary monounsaturated fat in the mediterranean diet is olive oil, which even fat phobics have conceded is a "heart-healthy" fat.
Dr. |
Tori Hudson, N.D.
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| Consider the Mediterranean diet: increase intake of fruits; vegetables; whole grains; legumes, especially soybean products; nuts; seeds; olive oil; and fish.
• Reduce sodium to less than 2,500 mg per day.
• Quit smoking.
• Do not exceed one alcoholic beverage (5 oz) per day.
• Practice regular aerobic exercise (30 minutes or more, 5-7 times per week)—e.g., a brisk walk.
• Reduce or eliminate coffee (both caffeinated and decaffeinated).
• Strive for healthy body weight.
• Practice stress management such as meditation or relaxation exercise 15 minutes each day. |
Michael Pollan
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| Oceans of ink have been spilled attempting to tease out and analyze the components of the mediterranean diet, hoping to identify the X factor responsible for its healthfulness: Is it the olive oil?The fish?The wild greens?The garlic?The nuts?The French paradox too has been variously attributed to the salutary effects of red wine, olive oil, and even foie gras (liver is high in B vitamins and iron). |
| Marion Nestle also cautions against taking the diet out of the context of the lifestyle, a particular hazard when comparing the diets of different populations. The mediterranean diet is widely believed to be one of the most healthful traditional diets, yet much of what we know about it is based on studies of people living in the 1950s on the island of Crete—people who in many respects led lives very different from our own. Yes, they ate lots of olive oil and more fish than meat. But they also did more physical labor. As followers of the Greek Orthodox church, they fasted frequently. |
by Michael Murray, N.D. and Joseph Pizzorno, N.D.
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| One diet that appears to be representative of a way of eating that provides an optimal intake of the right types of fat is the traditional "Mediterranean diet." This term has a specific meaning. It reflects food patterns typical of some Mediterranean regions in the early 1960s, such as Crete, parts of mainland Greece, and southern Italy. The traditional mediterranean diet has shown tremendous benefit in fighting heart disease and cancer, as well as diabetes. It has the following characteristics:
• Olive oil is the principal source of fat. |
Michael Pollan
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| Wine may not be the X factor in the French or mediterranean diet, but it does seem to be an integral part of those dietary patterns. There is now abundant scientific evidence for the health benefits of alcohol to go with a few centuries of traditional belief and anecdotal evidence. Mindful of the social and health effects of alcoholism, public health authorities are loath to recommend drinking, but the fact is that people who drink moderately and regularly live longer and suffer considerably less heart disease than teetotalers. |
Gabriel Cousens
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 Vogel has pointed out is that the protective elements in the mediterranean diet are the antioxidants found in the plant sources of the cuisine. He felt that there was some protection against the direct impairment of endothelial function produced by high-fat foods, including olive oil. In another study exploring the same issue, reported in the American Journal of Cardiology, they also found that the constriction was worse in twelve healthy and twelve high-cholesterol subjects after consuming olive oil.
Extra Virgin olive oil does contain polyphenols that give some antioxidant protection. |
Tori Hudson, N.D.
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| Whether it is the TLC diet, the Step 1 or Step 2 diet, the mediterranean diet, or the Ornish diet, they all offer a great step toward reducing the risk of heart disease. One might be more suited to you over the other. Consider reading more about each, experimenting, or speaking with your health-care practitioner and/or a qualified nutritionist to determine which approach is best for you.
Nutritional Supplements
Although dietary changes alone can have a powerful effect in reducing the incidence of heart disease, they may not be enough for everyone. |
| Consider the DASH diet or Mediterranean diet: increase intake of fruits; vegetables; whole grains; legumes, especially soybean products; nuts; seeds; olive oil; and fish.
• Consider avoiding all sodium; at the least, reduce sodium to less than 2,500 mg per day.
• Quit smoking.
• Do not exceed one alcoholic beverage (5 oz) per day.
• Practice regular aerobic exercise (30 minutes or more, 5-7 times per week)—e.g., a brisk walk.
• Reduce or eliminate coffee (both caffeinated and decaffeinated).
• Strive for ideal body weight. |
Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D.
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Heart Healthv" Oils^
During the 1990s, the headlines were suddenly filled with the wonders of "the mediterranean diet." It was widely hailed as a much more heart-healthy approach to eating than the average American diet, largely on the basis of research by a group of French scientists headed by Dr. Michel de Lorgeril of Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble.1 Known as the Lyon Diet Heart Study, the research spawned scores of magazine and newspaper articles and Mediterranean-style cookbooks. |
| It is not surprising that they received such great attention and that the mediterranean diet attracted many adherents. And it is also not surprising that many of my patients are at first puzzled by the fact that my nutrition plan does not permit monounsaturated oils such as olive oil or canola oil to be part of an arrest and reversal program for coronary artery disease. Because of the Lyon Diet Heart Study, the media have taken to referring to these oils as "heart healthy."
Well, nothing could be further from the truth. They are not heart healthy. |
| Yes, you devotees of the mediterranean diet, that includes olive oil, as I'll explain in Chapter 10.)
• Generally, you cannot eat nuts or avocados.
You can eat a wonderful variety of delicious, nutrient-dense foods:
• All vegetables except avocado. Leafy green vegetables, root vegetables, veggies that are red, green, purple, orange, and yellow and everything in between.
• All legumes—beans, peas, and lentils of all varieties.
• All whole grains and products, such as bread and pasta, that are made from them—as long as they do not contain added fats.
• All fruits.
It works. |
Craig Pepin-Donat
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 Other diets that use a cultural hook include: The mediterranean diet, Japanese Women Don't Get Fat and French Women Don't Get Fat. Desperate dieters still follow the Cabbage Soup Diet or the Grapefruit Diet. Others join Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem® and Jenny Craig®, each of which tries to convince you that you need their food menus to succeed. Slimfast would have you believe that replacing meals with shakes is the answer.
These diets have two things in common. Not one of them has a magic formula for success and none of them will provide sustained results. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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 The famous Lyon Diet Heart Study showed that just following a mediterranean diet (including fish, vegetables, and olive oil), produced a 72 percent decrease in coronary events, a 56 percent decrease in overall mortality, and a 61.7 percent decrease in cancer. Not a drug in the world can get those results. And in the famous ongoing Nurses' Health Study, doing only five simple things was associated with an almost unbelievable 83 percent reduction in the incidence of cardiovascular disease. You ready for the five simple things? |
Bill Sardi
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 Journal Nutrition Science Vitaminology 48: 491-97, 2002]
Olive washings
Olives are known to be healthy and olive oil is extolled as a key part of the mediterranean diet. But the primary molecules in olive oil that are credited with providing its healthy properties are from its polyphenols, not its oil content. [Nutrition Reviews 56:142-7, 1998] During olive oil production, large volumes of water are generated and subsequently discarded. Water washings of olives remove or extract some of these antioxidant polyphenols. |
Tori Hudson, N.D.
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| Compared with a low-fat diet, three months on a mediterranean diet that included olive oil (one liter per week) or packets of walnuts, hazelnuts, and almonds decreased cardiovascular risk factors.157 Both of these diets were associated with significant reductions in blood pressure, lower fasting glucose levels, lower insulin levels in those without diabetes, lower triglycerides, increased HDL-C, and lower C-reactive protein levels.
Ornish Lifestyle Modification Program. The low-fat diet has been promoted by Dr. Dean Ornish since the publication of his bestselling book Dr. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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 After about four years of follow-up, the people on the mediterranean diet experienced 70 percent less heart disease (about three times the reduction in risk achieved by statin drugs!). Not only that, but their overall risk of death was 45 percent lower. These astonishing results were obtained despite the fact that there wasn't much change in their cholesterol levels, showing that heart disease is about much more than just cholesterol. |
by Michael Murray, N.D. and Joseph Pizzorno, N.D.
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| On study in particular compared the effects of the cholesterol-lowering mediterranean diet to that of a mediterranean diet that had 35 percent of the calories derived from monounsaturated fats from walnuts. The study found that the 49 participants who ate the walnut-enhanced diet had lower levels of total cholesterol, LDL, and lipoprotein a (Lp(a), a form of lipoprotein that is even a more serious risk for heart dis- &| ease than LDL). .JO
Other research studies have ^a^^W^ra corroborated these beneficial Q»3l«r7 effects of walnuts. |
Jonny Bowden, M.A., C.N.S.
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| The classic mediterranean diet "does not regard all fat as bad," and, in fact, doesn't limit fat consumption at all. It does, however, specify which fats to eat and which to avoid (more on this in a moment).The primary monounsaturated fat in the mediterranean diet is olive oil, which even fat phobics have conceded is a "heart-healthy" fat.
Dr. Pescatore has found an oil he feels is even better for you than olive oil, and this is the gimmick of the Hamptons Diet. Dr. Pescatore replaces olive oil with macadamia nut oil, an oil he claims has miraculous benefits for several reasons. |
Jack Challem
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| We emphasize high-quality protein such as chicken and fish and a lot of high-fiber vegetables and fruits, olive and macadamia nut oils, and vinegar, but much less starch than in the traditional mediterranean diet.
You will be able to find many healthy equivalents in natural food stores such as Whole Foods, Wild Oats, and Vitamin Cottage. For example, most commercial brands of mayonnaise, such as Kraft, use soybean oil, which is not as healthy as other oils. |
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