Mediterranean diet, health benefits

Mediterranean diet based on olive oil and popularly thought to be the best fat to consume for long-range health benefits. The oxidative stability of high-oleate oils also meets industrial needs (17). Such oils are useful in cosmetic applications as they are established to be safe for consumption. They are useful as sources of... 

The Mediterranean diet is characterized by abundant use of plant foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads, other forms of cereals, beans, nuts, and seeds), fresh fruit as the typical main-meal side dish and daily dessert, olive oil as the principal source of fat on salads and breads, low amounts of dairy products (principally cheese and yogurt), and fish or poultry as meats used in low to moderate frequency. Water is the usual beverage, but also red wine—for which there is ample research indicating cardiovascular health benefits—is consumed in low to moderate amounts, normally with the evening meal. 

My proposal here is that you adopt the strongest scientific support for a regular diet providing health benefits—the Mediterranean diet—combined with all the advantages of superfruits. Here s how it works ... 

Scientific research on the health benefits from wine consumption began in the second half of the twentieth century primarily coimected to the studying the Mediterranean diet. A lot of epidemiological and pharmacological studies have been pubhshed in this field. Growing evidence prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to make a statement about the beneficial effect of moderate alcohol con-smnption in preventing cardiovascular diseases in 2003. 

The health benefits of OA have been implicated in olive oil as part of the Mediterranean diet (Wahle, Heys, and Rotondo, 2004). LDL particles rich in MUFA are less susceptible to oxidation than those containing PUFA. Some of the health benefits resulting from a higher intake of MUFA in olive oil are probably due to a decreased intake of SFA and PUFA such as LA which may result in greater desaturation of ALA to beneficial co3 LC-PUFA, therefore decreasing CVD risk. There is also evidence to indicate that OA is responsible for lowering LDL cholesterol and has beneficial effects on immune function. 

The health benefits of the traditional Mediterranean diet are extensively documented [3,4] and include protective effects against cardiovascular diseases [5-11], diabetes [12,13], rheumatoid arthritis [14], intestinal diseases [15], and several types of cancers [16-18]. Some constituents of wine and olive oil (particularly polyphenols) play a key role in most of such healthy effects. 

Gerber, M., Health benefits of the Mediterranean diet model, in Mediterranean Diet and Health. Current News and Prospects, Agropolis, John Libbey, Paris, France, 3, 2001. 

The occurrence of dietary polyphenols in largely consumed vegetables and their bioavailability need to be known for a proper evaluation of their potential health benefits. In the past years many studies on the uptake and the metabolism of dietary polyphenols have been published, and presently a better information on the absorption and fate of polyphenols from regular food, beverages and supplements is available. By contrast, the polyphenol content of different vegetables consumed in large amounts and with beneficial properties is still poorly defined. This is the case of tomatoes, which represent an important part of the mediterranean diet and are thought to diminish the risk of certain chronic diseases (72, 73). 

Only very recently have the government and other health agencies bowed to the preponderance of clinical, experimental, epidemiological, and historical evidence that moderate consumption of wine is not only not detrimental, but is beneficial. The proven benefit is in lowered incidence of cardiovascular complications in wine consumers. This apparently accounts for the relative health in this regard of people in Erance, Italy, and other Mediterranean countries even though their diet is otherwise less healthful (more fat particularly). 

---