Antioxidants in walnuts improve the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet

Walnuts used to replace a third of the olive oil and avocado fat in a Mediterranean diet for four weeks was shown to improve blood cholesterol, LDL levels and vascular function in men and women with high cholesterol. Blood levels of one form of vitamin E doubled.  This study provides evidence that the antioxidants and the n-3 fatty acids in walnuts can improve the effect of the Mediterranean diet.

PositiveTip: Try adding a few walnuts to your salads or replacing a poor snack of junk food with a handful of walnuts to improve your heart health.

Mediterranean-type diet improves odds of pregnancy.

Women being treated for infertility are 1.4 times more likely to become pregnant if they consume a diet high in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and some fish. Dutch researchers also found these women had a low intake of snacks, meats, and mayonnaise.

More research is needed to determine whether it was fish or plant-based foods that gave the benefit.

PositiveTip: Women desiring to become pregnant may benefit from a healthy diet.

What you eat may reduce your risk of depression.

The Mediterranean dietary pattern (MDP) continues to show many health advantages. Adherence to the MDP in more than 10,000 young adults in Spain has demonstrated its benefit in protecting from depression. After 4.4 years of follow-up, those in the top three quintiles of dietary adherence to the MDP had the lowest risk for depression. The investigators also noted that higher consumption of fruits and nuts, legumes and fish were separately associated with lower depression risk.

A pharmaceutical order need not be the first resort for newly diagnosed diabetics.

Investigators in Naples, Italy compared a Mediterranean-sytle diet with a low-fat American Heart Association (AHA) diet in a four year study of patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Participants were overweight (BMI=>25), had glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels above 11%, and were not on diabetic medications. Both diets contained the same number of calories and were rich in whole grains.

High use of fruits and vegetables and low intake of meat identified as beneficial components of Mediterranean diet.

The Mediterranean diet was introduced as a health protecting diet almost thirty years ago! Since then much research has linked this diet with a number of specific positive health outcomes, including overall mortality.

A new study just published in the British Medical Journal has reported on the relative effectiveness of the individual components of this diet. Researchers followed 23,000 healthy Greek adults for 8.5 years and found the following elements of the Mediterranean diet contributed most the reducing risk of mortality: