Mediterranean Diet Fights CHD

Erika Camardella
06/14/2007

BARCELONA, Spain—Data from a recent study (Arch Intern Med. 2007 Jun;167:1195-1203) provided further evidence that a traditional Mediterranean diet (TMD) is a useful tool against coronary heart disease (CHD).
A total of 372 subjects at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease—210 women and 162 men, age 55 to 80 years, were recruited in the multi-center, randomized, controlled, parallel-group clinical trial (the Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea [PREDIMED] Study).
Testing the efficacy of the TMD on primary prevention of CHD, researchers assigned participants either a low-fat diet or one of two TMDs—TMD with virgin olive oil or TMD with nuts. The TMD participants received nutritional education and either free virgin olive oil for the entire family (1 L/week) or free nuts (30 g/d); diets were ad libitum. Changes in oxidative stress markers were evaluated at three months.
Mean (95 percent confidence intervals) oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels decreased in the TMD with virgin olive oil and TMD with nuts groups, without changes in the low-fat diet group. Change in oxidized LDL levels in the TMD with virgin olive oil group reached significance versus that of the low-fat group. Malondialdehyde changes in mononuclear cells paralleled those of oxidized LDL; no changes in serum glutathione peroxidase activity were observed.
Researchers noted that when individuals at high cardiovascular risk changed their diet to include a TMD, significant reductions in cellular lipid levels and LDL oxidation were observed. “Results provide further evidence to recommend the TMD as a useful tool against risk factors for CHD,” they concluded.

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