Originally published December 18 2005
Heart-healthy diets come under scrutiny
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Dr. Myron Weinberger of Indiana University has published an editorial regarding a recent article in JAMA about heart-healthy diets, particularly the Mediterranean diet and its emphasis on olive oil.
While a healthy high-carb diet has been shown to be good for you, replacing a few of the carbohydrates with a little protein like scrambled egg substitute or beneficial fats like olive oil margarine could be even better, helping further reduce heart disease risks, a study found.
They had volunteers try three variations of the same diet, all of them low in saturated fats and including plenty of fruits and vegetables.
All three improved blood-pressure and cholesterol readings after just six weeks, and adopting any of them would be beneficial, said lead researcher Dr. Lawrence Appel of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Systolic pressure -- the top number in blood-pressure readings -- fell by an average of about 8 points while they were on the carb diet, 9.5 points on the protein diet and 9.3 points on the healthy fats diet.
LDL levels fell an average of almost 12 points on the carb diet, about 14 points on the protein diet, and about 13 points on the healthy fats diet.
They estimated that for every 100 people with mild high blood pressure, there would be one less heart attack over 10 years for those on the protein or healthy fats diet, compared with the more carb-friendly diet.
"These symptoms raise the intriguing possibility that if individuals were to follow these diets long-term, there may be some weight loss on the protein diet," he told conference participants.
A JAMA editorial about Appel's research, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, questioned whether people in the real world would stick to the diets since they'd have to buy and prepare their own meals.
"Longer trials examining actual cardiovascular event outcomes will be needed to convince a skeptical public of the benefit of yet another unique and difficult-to-achieve dietary regimen," said editorial author Dr. Myron Weinberger of Indiana University.
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