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Greek researchers offered fresh evidence of the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, reporting in a large study that it helps improve several risk factors linked to diabetes, obesity and heart disease.
The Mediterranean diet is high in monounsaturated fats such as olive oil and also relies heavily on whole-grain cereals, fruits and vegetables, fish and low consumption of animal fats. It has been shown in numerous studies and clinical trials to reduce mortality from such causes as cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Experts believe the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits of the foods associated with the diet confer health benefits across a variety of diseases.
In a new analysis that pooled findings from 50 different studies involving a total of more than 500,000 patients, researchers led by Demosthenes B. Panagiotakos of Harakopio University, Athens, found the diet had beneficial effects against five components of a prediabetic condition called the metabolic syndrome. The analysis found that adherence to a Mediterranean diet was associated with a 31% reduction in risk of developing the syndrome.
The constellation of components of metabolic syndrome include waist circumference over 40 inches in men and 35 inches in women, abnormally high blood pressure and blood sugar, very low levels of HDL or good cholesterol and high levels of blood fats called triglycerides. Abnormalities in these risk factors are widespread among the growing numbers of people who are obese or overweight or have diabetes.
Heart experts and public-health officials believe effective approaches to helping people shrink their waistlines and achieve normal blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels would help reduce the devastating toll of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
The new study, published online Monday by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, is consistent with other findings of the protective benefit of the Mediterranean diet.
Elizabeth Jackson, a cardiologist at University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, said the study suggests that 'when people are able to make improvements through diet, they are preventing the need in the future to go on medication' to control blood pressure and other risk factors. If doctors make more effort 'to counsel patients on what a general healthy-eating diet is like, we can get a lot of bang for the buck,' she added.
There were some limitations to the findings. For one, the benefit against the metabolic syndrome was found mostly in studies conducted in Mediterranean countries, and not in countries outside of that region.
Dr. Jackson said different designs of the underlying studies and the duration of follow-up could have influenced the results. She said, for instance, that U.S. studies, including the big Nurses Health Study at Harvard Medical School, have demonstrated the benefits of the diet in a U.S. population.
The results also reflect changes in recent years in how cardiologists look at the effect of diet on heart risk. For years, heart experts were focused on low-fat diets, but 'we've really shifted our focus to thinking about other components,' Dr. Jackson said. Research into the Mediterranean diet reflects how dietary fiber can affect measures like triglycerides.
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希腊研究人员给出了地中海式饮食对健康益处的新证据，一个大型研究报告说，这种饮食有助于改善与糖尿病、肥胖和心脏病有关的一些风险因素。
地中海式饮食富含单一不饱和脂肪，如橄榄油，同时十分注重全麦谷物、果蔬和鱼类，对动物脂肪的摄入量很低。无数的研究和临床实验显示，这种饮食可降低心血管疾病和癌症的死亡率。
专家认为，与这种饮食相关的食物有抗氧化和消炎方面的益处，从而对许多种类的疾病有益。
雅典Harakopio大学的Demosthenes B. Panagiotakos牵头进行了一项新的分析，集成了50个不同研究的发现，总共涉及逾50万患者。分析发现，地中海式饮食对一种名为代谢综合症的前驱糖尿病的五种指标有良好影响。分析发现，坚持地中海式饮食可使罹患这种综合症的风险降低31%。
代谢综合症的指标包括：男性腰围超过40英寸，女性超过35英寸，血压和血糖反常偏高，高密度脂蛋白或优质胆固醇水平极低，血脂（甘油三脂）水平高。在肥胖、超重或糖尿病人群中，这些风险因素出现异常的情况越来越普遍。
心脏病专家和公共卫生官员认为，如果能够有效地帮助人们缩减腰围并达到正常血压、血糖和胆固醇水平，将有助于降低糖尿病和心血管疾病的死亡率。
《美国心脏病学杂志》(Journal of the American College of Cardiology)在网上发布了这项新的研究结果，它与有关地中海式饮食保护作用的其他研究发现一致。
美国密歇根大学安娜堡分校(University of Michigan at Ann Arbor)的心脏病学家杰克逊(Elizabeth Jackson)说，这项研究表明，如果人们能够通过饮食改善健康状况，就相当于让自己将来无需用药控制血压和其他风险因素。她补充说，如果医生多费点事向患者提出通常的健康饮食建议，就能够起到很大的效果。
上述研究结果也有一些局限。一方面，针对代谢综合症的益处主要是在地中海国家进行的研究中发现的，该地区以外的国家则没有。
杰克逊说，基础研究的不同形式以及跟进时间的期限可能会影响研究结果。她举例说，包括哈佛医学院(Harvard Medical School)重大研究“护士健康研究”(Nurses Health Study)在内的一些美国研究发现这种饮食在美国人当中产生了益处。
研究结果还反映出近年来心脏病学家就饮食对心脏病风险影响的看法有什么样的转变。杰克逊说，多年来，心脏病学家一直关注低脂饮食，但现在我们实际上将注意力转向考虑其他指标。对地中海式饮食的研究反映了膳食纤维对甘油三脂等指标有何影响。
