Will a Mediterranean diet help you live longer?
Sabine_Stroehm
Posts: 19,263 Member
Will a Mediterranean diet help you live longer? A new study finds more evidence that the Mediterranean diet of vegetable, fruits, nuts and fish can help you live longer. CBS News' Dr. Tara Narula, a cardiologist at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital, sits down with "CBS This Morning" to discuss the findings.
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/will-a-mediterranean-diet-help-you-live-longer/
Fabulous. Hope there's further research in this area in the future.
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I thought it was pretty common knowledge that a Mediterranean diet was good for heart health. But why do all these studies always compare to a low-fat diet? I mean, okay, we get it already! Low fat is bad. So, why not compare other diets?
Low carb is widely touted, why not compare to that? That, to me, would be an interesting study, since the Med diet is pretty high carb.0 -
If it was just about eating, then probably. But there are so many other factors. Eating better in a high crime area isn't going to decrease risk of life. Same if one worked on building high rise buildings.
But since nutrient quality seems to be higher in a Mediterranean diet than a lot of the others out there, then it makes sense to try to follow it.
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I know there are studies going on in certain areas of Italy--Sardinia for one---where there are numerous incidents of people that live to be more than 100 years old. Researchers are especially looking at diet in these towns. The Mediterranean diet has protection status. It was in all the papers here recently. I don't think a low carb diet can say the same. Sorry.
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I thought it was pretty common knowledge that a Mediterranean diet was good for heart health. But why do all these studies always compare to a low-fat diet? I mean, okay, we get it already! Low fat is bad. So, why not compare other diets?
Low carb is widely touted, why not compare to that? That, to me, would be an interesting study, since the Med diet is pretty high carb.
That would be great future research.0 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I thought it was pretty common knowledge that a Mediterranean diet was good for heart health. But why do all these studies always compare to a low-fat diet? I mean, okay, we get it already! Low fat is bad. So, why not compare other diets?
Low carb is widely touted, why not compare to that? That, to me, would be an interesting study, since the Med diet is pretty high carb.
That would be great future research.
Or a head to head comparison of Mediterranean and it antithesis, Paleo. Though I doubt you'd ever get anyone to stick to Paleo long enough to get good results.0 -
snowflake954 wrote: »I know there are studies going on in certain areas of Italy--Sardinia for one---where there are numerous incidents of people that live to be more than 100 years old. Researchers are especially looking at diet in these towns. The Mediterranean diet has protection status. It was in all the papers here recently. I don't think a low carb diet can say the same. Sorry.
Sardinia is one of the "Blue Zones". Also, grains and wine were left out of the op0 -
Grains and wine were in the video, weren't they? Wine was.snowflake954 wrote: »I know there are studies going on in certain areas of Italy--Sardinia for one---where there are numerous incidents of people that live to be more than 100 years old. Researchers are especially looking at diet in these towns. The Mediterranean diet has protection status. It was in all the papers here recently. I don't think a low carb diet can say the same. Sorry.
Sardinia is one of the "Blue Zones". Also, grains and wine were left out of the op0 -
okIf it was just about eating, then probably. But there are so many other factors. Eating better in a high crime area isn't going to decrease risk of life. Same if one worked on building high rise buildings.
But since nutrient quality seems to be higher in a Mediterranean diet than a lot of the others out there, then it makes sense to try to follow it.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Mmmm....wine!0
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Apparently they gave the women in the study a questionnaire and then ranked them based on how closely their diet tracked the Mediterranean diet. In that there's not really one such diet, it would be interesting to see the questionnaire to see how it was defined.0
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Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
Grains and wine were in the video, weren't they? Wine was.snowflake954 wrote: »I know there are studies going on in certain areas of Italy--Sardinia for one---where there are numerous incidents of people that live to be more than 100 years old. Researchers are especially looking at diet in these towns. The Mediterranean diet has protection status. It was in all the papers here recently. I don't think a low carb diet can say the same. Sorry.
Sardinia is one of the "Blue Zones". Also, grains and wine were left out of the op
For sure. I'm from one of the Med-Diet countries, and I can assure you grains and wine are consumed regularly.
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I've been to a few of them, and yep!Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
Grains and wine were in the video, weren't they? Wine was.snowflake954 wrote: »I know there are studies going on in certain areas of Italy--Sardinia for one---where there are numerous incidents of people that live to be more than 100 years old. Researchers are especially looking at diet in these towns. The Mediterranean diet has protection status. It was in all the papers here recently. I don't think a low carb diet can say the same. Sorry.
Sardinia is one of the "Blue Zones". Also, grains and wine were left out of the op
For sure. I'm from one of the Med-Diet countries, and I can assure you grains and wine are consumed regularly.
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Why is the MT considered an "antithesis" of Paleo eating?0
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snowflake954 wrote: »I know there are studies going on in certain areas of Italy--Sardinia for one---where there are numerous incidents of people that live to be more than 100 years old. Researchers are especially looking at diet in these towns. The Mediterranean diet has protection status. It was in all the papers here recently. I don't think a low carb diet can say the same. Sorry.
Sardinia is one of the "Blue Zones". Also, grains and wine were left out of the op
Grains are most definitely part of the Mediterranean diet. Albeit whole grains and not the refined sorts, even though we do tend to not consume those anymore. So is wine, in moderate quantities.
Keep in mind, the Mediterranean diet people talk about all the time is the traditional one, aka the one our grandparents were eating, which may or may not correspond to what people are currently eating in those areas. (Which explains why those women were given the questionnaire)
As far as I recall, the traditional Mediterranean diet is characterised: lots of vegetables, fruits, nuts and legumes, olive oil as main fat source, whole (unrefined) grains, wine in moderate consumption, dairy products immoderate consumption. Little to moderate meat consumption, little to moderate fish consumption. Fish often preferred over meat.0 -
Looked around a bit for studies comparing low-carb and Mediterranean, but it seems that there are very few direct comparative studies, just some opinion articles saying that nobody really knows the long-term effects of low-carb whereas Mediterranean is proven to be healthy.
I could find one article comparing low-fat, low-carb and Mediterranean, which however sees to focus mostly on weight loss rather than long-term health benefits.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa07086810 -
GingerbreadCandy wrote: »snowflake954 wrote: »I know there are studies going on in certain areas of Italy--Sardinia for one---where there are numerous incidents of people that live to be more than 100 years old. Researchers are especially looking at diet in these towns. The Mediterranean diet has protection status. It was in all the papers here recently. I don't think a low carb diet can say the same. Sorry.
Sardinia is one of the "Blue Zones". Also, grains and wine were left out of the op
Grains are most definitely part of the Mediterranean diet. Albeit whole grains and not the refined sorts, even though we do tend to not consume those anymore. So is wine, in moderate quantities.
Keep in mind, the Mediterranean diet people talk about all the time is the traditional one, aka the one our grandparents were eating, which may or may not correspond to what people are currently eating in those areas. (Which explains why those women were given the questionnaire)
As far as I recall, the traditional Mediterranean diet is characterised: lots of vegetables, fruits, nuts and legumes, olive oil as main fat source, whole (unrefined) grains, wine in moderate consumption, dairy products immoderate consumption. Little to moderate meat consumption, little to moderate fish consumption. Fish often preferred over meat.
Yep, this ^ Most of the things Paleo says to avoid, Mediterranean says to embrace, most notably, grains and legumes.0 -
Aren't there a lot of pasta and breads in the Mediterranean diet? Are they whole grain? I ask because I have a fairly extensive cookbook divided by country, and there's plenty of bread and pasta, but mostly not whole grain... Lots of semolina flour. And the Mediterranean delis in my area also serve lots of bread and pasta, Turkish lamb pizzas, pita bread, etc.0
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It's says Swiss Milk on the side of the bus but the bus doesn't go to Switzerland. 0
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All I can say is that my diet is largely modeled after the Med diet...but I would say I consume far more meat and poultry than would be in the traditional Med diet...but other than that, tons of veg, fruit, nuts and legumes, whole grains, etc...and wine...not always in moderation either.
Personally I think it has done wonders for my blood work. That said, I don't have anything else to compare it to other than the way I was eating before...which actually wasn't all that horribly "bad" or anything...but I definitely didn't get much in the way of fruit and veg...maybe one true serving per day or something...now I get around 8.0 -
If my style of eating resembles any diet closely it is the Mediterranean Diet although my red meat consumption is a bit higher.
It has also made me dress more stylishly and made me more sexually attractive (ok, this may be a bit of an exaggeration...)0 -
SnuggleSmacks wrote: »Aren't there a lot of pasta and breads in the Mediterranean diet? Are they whole grain? I ask because I have a fairly extensive cookbook divided by country, and there's plenty of bread and pasta, but mostly not whole grain... Lots of semolina flour. And the Mediterranean delis in my area also serve lots of bread and pasta, Turkish lamb pizzas, pita bread, etc.
Obviously, everyone in the Mediterranean region will not eat exactly the same, just as in any other region. This sight has some good info on the Mediterranean diet.
http://oldwayspt.org/resources/heritage-pyramids/mediterranean-diet-pyramid0 -
Here is another good link for diet comparisons, the Mediterranean is ranked in the top three in this comparison. I think it could, I try and follow it.
http://health.usnews.com/best-diet/best-overall-diets?int=9be246
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Here is another good link for diet comparisons, the Mediterranean is ranked in the top three in this comparison. I think it could, I try and follow it.
http://health.usnews.com/best-diet/best-overall-diets?int=9be246
What's interesting about those rankings, is that if you change the ranking to best heart health diet, Ornish, which is a low-fat diet, becomes #1 and Mediterranean drops to #4, which does not match the results of the study discussed in the OP's video.
I wonder who was on their panel of health experts.0 -
These comparisons always make me scratch my head.0
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Ornish is a shotgun solution that gets results based on the demographics it uses....how could it not. Look your losing weight and getting healthier.Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Here is another good link for diet comparisons, the Mediterranean is ranked in the top three in this comparison. I think it could, I try and follow it.
http://health.usnews.com/best-diet/best-overall-diets?int=9be246
What's interesting about those rankings, is that if you change the ranking to best heart health diet, Ornish, which is a low-fat diet, becomes #1 and Mediterranean drops to #4, which does not match the results of the study discussed in the OP's video.
I wonder who was on their panel of health experts.
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neanderthin wrote: »
Ornish is a shotgun solution that gets results based on the demographics it uses....how could it not. Look your losing weight and getting healthier.Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Here is another good link for diet comparisons, the Mediterranean is ranked in the top three in this comparison. I think it could, I try and follow it.
http://health.usnews.com/best-diet/best-overall-diets?int=9be246
What's interesting about those rankings, is that if you change the ranking to best heart health diet, Ornish, which is a low-fat diet, becomes #1 and Mediterranean drops to #4, which does not match the results of the study discussed in the OP's video.
I wonder who was on their panel of health experts.
That is probably true, but I would hope that if a health expert was asked which diet was best for heart health they would choose the best for everyone, including those that don't need to lose weight.
And yes, I am aware that my hoping doesn't necessarily make it so.0 -
I'd like to see the low carb / Mediterranean diet comparison too!
Like ninerbuff said though, there are no guarantees that "good" diet means long life and even the "experts" sometimes aren't lucky: http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/7-diet-gurus-who-died-of-poor-health
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SnuggleSmacks wrote: »Aren't there a lot of pasta and breads in the Mediterranean diet? Are they whole grain? I ask because I have a fairly extensive cookbook divided by country, and there's plenty of bread and pasta, but mostly not whole grain... Lots of semolina flour. And the Mediterranean delis in my area also serve lots of bread and pasta, Turkish lamb pizzas, pita bread, etc.
Yes and no. As in, yes, we eat a lot of pasta and bread, but a common misconception for instance is that those are eaten together, whereas they should not. (The bread would only be used to "clean" the plates afterwards.)
As for whole grains... Well, no, not today. As I said above, the Mediterranean diet is not necessarily based on what people eat today. I am not sure when Italians made the switch from whole wheat to refined wheat (my mom says she was still eating whole grain as a kid), but for if you were to follow the Mediterranean diet as recommended you would replace refined wheats with whole-grain.
That said, I am speaking for Italy only, the Mediterranean Basin doesn't spawn quite a few regions, but quite a few countries, all with very strong and plenty of them are considered as representatives of the Mediterranean diet! Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Italy, Morocco and Croatia (not France in fact) and I guarantee you that we most certainly don't eat at all in the same way
Also, even within Italy there are massive differences within its Region... my mom comes from the Alps, and the diet there is much closer to Austrian than what you'd perceive as mediterranean... So yeah, it's complicated. 0 -
From Wikipedia (but very true): "Despite its name, this diet is not typical of all Mediterranean cuisine. In Northern Italy, for instance, lard and butter are commonly used in cooking, and olive oil is reserved for dressing salads and cooked vegetables. In both North Africa and the Middle East, sheep's tail fat and rendered butter (samna) are the traditional staple fats, with some exceptions."
And "This Mediterranean diet pyramid is based on food patterns typical of Crete, much of the rest of Greece, and southern Italy in the early 1960s, where adult life expectancy was among the highest in the world and rates of coronary heart disease, certain cancers, and other diet-related chronic diseases were among the lowest. Work in the field or kitchen resulted in a lifestyle that included regular physical activity and was associated with low rates of obesity."
From: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/61/6/1402S.abstract0 -
And in fact there is a low carb Med Diet approach.I'd like to see the low carb / Mediterranean diet comparison too!
Like ninerbuff said though, there are no guarantees that "good" diet means long life and even the "experts" sometimes aren't lucky: http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/7-diet-gurus-who-died-of-poor-health
I can link it if you're interested.
And yes, nothing is a given. I don't get the real value in niner's comment, however, because there's NEVER a given.
To me the comment is like: well, you can set up an IRA/401k and it's probably good to do it, but you might die before you retire. Who says that?
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