A Whole Food Plant Based Diet Improves On The Heart Protecting Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean Diet has been praised for its ability to protect against heart disease and cancer. The consumption of olive oil has also been associated with the Mediterranean Diet and its health benefits.
Open further scientific review the consumption of olive oil has little to do with the Mediterranean Diet’s ability to reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer, except that it reduces the consumption of animal-based fat products.
The reduction of the oil or fat from animal-based products is the variable that truly contributes to the reduction of heart disease and cancer and not the consumption of olive oil.
This study[1] indicated that there are just two components of the Mediterranean Diet that reduced the risk of heart disease and cancer and they are vegetables and nuts.
The Mediterranean Diet does contain some animal products but they are a small part of the diet. It is a testament to the health protecting ability of the plant foods that make up the major part of the diet for being able to protect against the pathogens and toxins of the animal-based products.
There is a vegetarian version of the diet, called the vegiterranean diet, that does remove animal-based products and their pathogens and toxins that compromise healthy living.
There is even a better alternative than the “vegiterranean diet.” The vegiterranean diet still allows for the consumption of processed grains like white pasta, alcohol, heavy oil usage, and high levels of salt.
Science has shown that the consumption of the Mediterranean Diet does protect against chronic disease and we shouldn’t ignore that fact. We should also be aware that there even more health protecting diet so we have the option of following that diet.
The traditional Mediterranean diet consisted of eating whole grains which have been shown to be protective against diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
The modern Mediterranean Diet consist largely of processed grains and has been shown to have the opposite effect of chronic diseases.[2]
Alcohol consumption is associated with the increased risk of cancer, especially breast cancer.[3] Alcohol also reduces the ability of arteries to dilate, which reduces blood flow and its oxygen and nutrient delivery to the body and brain.[4]
Watch the video to find out about oil and salt’s effect on the body.
So if you remove the things the compromise the Mediterranean Diet’s ability to protect health you will end up with a whole food plant-based diet.
[1] H Schroder, J Salas-Salvado, M A Martinez-Gonzalez, M Fito, D Corella, R Estruch, E Ros. Baseline adherence to the Mediterranean diet and major cardiovascular events: Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2014 Oct;174(10):1690-2.
[2] J Stamler. Toward a modern Mediterranean diet for the 21st century. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2013 Dec;23(12):1159-62.
[3] G Buckland, N Travier, V Cottet, C A Gonzalez, L Lujan-Barroso, A Agudo, A Trichopoulou, P Lagiou, and more. Adherence to the mediterranean diet and risk of breast cancer in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition cohort study. Int J Cancer. 2013 Jun 15;132(12):2918-27.
[4} S Agewall, S Wright, R N Doughty, G A Whalley, M Duxbury, N Sharpe. Does a glass of red wine improve endothelial function? Eur Heart J. 2000 Jan;21(1):74-8.
