Tag Archives: Mediterranean diet

Mediterranean Diet May Protect Against Chronic Kidney Disease

Posted on November 11, 2013 | Comments Off on Mediterranean Diet May Protect Against Chronic Kidney Disease

…according to an article at MedPageToday. If you’re white, this may not pertain to you. The study mostly involved Hispanics.

Comments Off on Mediterranean Diet May Protect Against Chronic Kidney Disease

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged ,

Top Harvard Nutrition Scientist Walter Willett Under the Gun

Posted on October 1, 2013 | 3 comments

Forbes has the poop:

In an extraordinary editorial and feature article, Nature, one of the world’s pre-eminent scientific journals, has effectively admonished the chair of the Harvard School of Public Health’s nutrition department, Walter Willett, for promoting over-simplification of scientific results in the name of public health and engaging in unseemly behavior towards those who venture conclusions that differ to his.

Dr. Willett was a key promoter of the Mediterranean diet as one of the healthiest back in the 90’s. He worked closely with Oldways on their original Mediterranean diet pyramid.

He has come under fire for being rudely critical of Katherine Flegal, who promotes the idea that people who are overweight (but not obese) tend to live longer than those who are at a normal weight. (By overweight, I mean having a body mass index of 25-30.) I think Flegal is right; her major point has been well-known in the nutrition science community for at least a decade.

Worse than being rude, Dr. Willett is sounding anti-scientific. He seems to think it’s not worth even looking into. Regarding Flegal’s work, the Forbes article quotes him:

“This study is really a pile of rubbish, and no one should waste their time reading it,” he told National Public Radio.

Read the whole enchilada.

3 Comments

Posted in Weight Loss

Tagged , ,

Need Help With Your Mediterranean Diet Meals?

Posted on September 23, 2013 | Comments Off on Need Help With Your Mediterranean Diet Meals?

Conner Middelmann-Whitney has got you covered. She’s just launched a new service that delivers meal plans right to your email box every week. It’s called Everyday Mediterranean Meal Plans.

Here are some major features of the meals:

  • Low-glycemic
  • Gluten-free
  • Heavily plant based (at least 2 vegetarian dishes each week)
  • Prepared without using processed ingredients or unhealthy fats
  • Seasonal
  • Include a “Nutrition notes” section explaining what makes them healthy
  • Simple to prepare, requiring no complicated equipment, nor much cooking experience
  • There is at least one “Express” meal per week that takes a typical home cook 30 minutes or less to make
  • Each Meal Plan includes a detailed shopping list enabling people to shop ahead for these five dishes, thus cutting down on time spend shopping and food waste
  • The cost is quite reasonable

Read more details here.

Click here for a free sample.

If you’re running out of Mediterranean diet meal ideas, I don’t see how you can go wrong with this new service.

I also recommend Conner’s book, Zest for Life: The Mediterranean Anti-Cancer Diet.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Disclosure: I have received no monetary compensation for this endorsement. I do it as a favor to Conner because I admire in her nutrition and culinary skills and believe in her mission to promote health and prevent cancer via the Mediterranean diet.

Comments Off on Need Help With Your Mediterranean Diet Meals?

Posted in Cancer

Tagged , , , ,

Both Mediterranean and DASH Diets Linked to Better Brain Function With Aging

Posted on September 22, 2013 | Comments Off on Both Mediterranean and DASH Diets Linked to Better Brain Function With Aging

…according to a study in AJCN.

“Higher levels of accordance to both the DASH and Mediterranean dietary patterns were associated with consistently higher levels of cognitive function in elderly men and women over an 11-y period. Whole grains and nuts and legumes were positively associated with higher cognitive functions and may be core neuroprotective foods common to various healthy plant-centered diets around the globe.”

Comments Off on Both Mediterranean and DASH Diets Linked to Better Brain Function With Aging

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , ,

Another Study Links Mediterranean Diet With Lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Posted on August 17, 2013 | 1 comment
Steve Parker MD, Advanced Mediterranean DIet

Caprese salad: mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, basil, extra virgin olive oil

And eating low glycemic load contributes, too, according to an article at MedPageToday. The 22,000 Greek study participants were followed for 11 years. From the article:

The findings suggest that eliminating or strictly limiting high glycemic load foods such as those high in refined sugars and grains and following the largely plant-based Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes vegetables, fruits, nuts and legumes, can have a significant impact on diabetes risk, La Vecchia said.

“The impact of the diets was synergistic,” he told MedPage Today. “The message is that eating a largely Mediterranean diet that is also low in glycemic load is particularly favorable for preventing diabetes.”

Spanish researchers found the same thing a few years ago.

The Mediterranean diet is also healthy for those who already have type 2 diabetes.

1 Comment

Posted in Diabetes

Tagged ,

Mediterranean Diet Among The Best For Type 2 Diabetes

Posted on June 16, 2013 | 1 comment

…announces an article at Reuters.  An excerpt:

Ajala and her colleagues reviewed the results of 20 studies comparing the effect of seven popular diets on adults with type 2 diabetes. Mediterranean diets, low-carb diets, high-protein diets and low glycemic index diets – which rank foods by how quickly their carbs turn into glucose – all lowered participants’ blood sugar.

After following the diet for at least six months, the people on a Mediterranean eating plan also lost an average of 4 pounds. No other diet had a significant impact on weight, according to the findings published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

“We were quite surprised by the Mediterranean diet in particular,” Ajala said. “I would have thought that low-carb would have been the best for losing weight, but Mediterranean seems to be better.”

Beautiful woman smiling as she is wine tasting on a summer day.Here’s the traditional healthy Mediterranean diet.

The researchers also found that HDL cholesterol (“good cholesterol) and triglycerides improved on the Mediterranean diet, low-carb diets, and low glycemic index diets.  Those moves tend to protect against heart disease.

Steve Parker, M.D.

1 Comment

Posted in Diabetes, Low-Carb Mediterranean Diet

Tagged ,

Mediterranean Diet Reduces Risk of Metabolic Syndrome

Posted on June 14, 2013 | Comments Off on Mediterranean Diet Reduces Risk of Metabolic Syndrome

…in Europeans, according to a recent research report in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease. The study at hand lasted over six years and involved over 3,000 participants.

Learn about metabolic syndrome.

Comments Off on Mediterranean Diet Reduces Risk of Metabolic Syndrome

Posted in Metabolic Syndrome

Tagged ,

Mediterranean Diet Linked Once Again to Longevity

Posted on June 3, 2013 | Comments Off on Mediterranean Diet Linked Once Again to Longevity

…by Johns Hopkins researchers. 

Six thousand Americans were followed over the course of almost eight years, with attention to heart disease and death. Significantly lower death rates were seen in nonsmokers, and those maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, and eating the Mediterranean diet. The more adherence to those healthy factors, the lower the risk of death

h/t Lyle J. Dennis, M.D.

Comments Off on Mediterranean Diet Linked Once Again to Longevity

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged ,

Did Angelina Jolie Make the Right Decision to Have Surgery?

Posted on May 19, 2013 | Comments Off on Did Angelina Jolie Make the Right Decision to Have Surgery?

Dr. Cate says, “No.”

Dr. David Gorski, “Yes.”

Women with the BRCA-1 or -2 gene have a greatly increased risk of developing breast cancer. Bilateral mastectomy is one way to prevent most future breast cancers and prolong life in those women.

Breast cancer is one of the cancers that appears to be prevented by the Mediterranean diet. Not all breast cancers, of course. But the Mediterranean diet has never been studied as a cancer reduction strategy in women with BRCA genes. By no means am I suggesting that Ms. Jolie should have kept her breasts and simply ate Mediterranean-style. 

Women with BRCA genes are also prone to ovarian cancer, another cancer whose incidence is reduced by the Mediterranean diet. (Mediterranean dieters also have lower risk of prostate and colorectal cancer.)

Cancer reduction is one of the major reasons nutrition experts favor the Mediterranean diet.

Comments Off on Did Angelina Jolie Make the Right Decision to Have Surgery?

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged ,

Even the Experts Can’t Define the Healthy Mediterranean Diet

Posted on April 23, 2013 | 2 comments

…but they have some good ideas as to the healthy components, according to a report in MedPageToday. A snippet:

Through a subtractive statistical technique, the EPIC investigators calculated that the biggest chunk of the health advantage — 24% — came from moderate alcohol consumption (predominantly wine).

The other relative contributions were:

  • 17% from low consumption of meat and meat products
  • 16% from high vegetable consumption
  • 11% from high fruit and nut consumption
  • 11% from high monounsaturated-to-saturated lipid ratio (largely due to olive oil consumption)
  • 10% from high legume consumption

Here’s my definition of the Mediterranean diet.

Reference:
Sofi F, et al “Ideal consumption for each food group composing Mediterranean diet score for preventing total and cardiovascular mortality” EuroPRevent 2013; Abstract P106.

2 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged ,