Italian researchers reviewed the medical/nutrition literature of the last three years and confirmed that the Mediterranean diet 1) reduces the risk of death, 2) reduces heart disease illness and death, 3) cuts the risk of getting or dying from cancer, and 4) diminishes the odds of developing dementia, Parkinsons disease, stroke, and mild cognitive impairment.
These same investigators published a similar meta-analysis in 2008, looking at 12 studies. Over the ensuing three years (as of June, 2010), seven new prospective cohort studies looked at the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. The report at hand is a combination of all 19 studies, covering over 2,000,000 participants followed for four to 20 years. Nine of the 19 Mediterranean diet studies were done in Europe.
The newer studies, in particular, firmed up the diet’s protective effect against stroke, and added protection against mild cognitive impairment.
So What?
The Mediterranean diet: No other way of eating has so much scientific evidence that it’s healthy and worthy of adoption by the general population. Not the DASH diet, not the “prudent diet,” not the American Heart Association diet, not vegetarian diets, not vegan diets, not raw-food diets, not Esselstyne’s diet, not Ornish’s diet, not Atkins diet, not Oprah’s latest diet, not the Standard American Diet, not the . . . you name it.
Not even the Low-Carb Mediterranean Diet.
Just as important, the research shows you don’t have to go full-bore Mediterranean to gain a health and longevity benefit. Adopting just a couple Mediterranean diet features yeilds a modest but sigificant gain. For a list of Mediterranean diet components, visit Oldways or the Advanced Mediterranean Diet website.
Reference: Sofi, Francesco, et al. Accruing evidence about benefits of adherence to the Mediterranean diet on health: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, ePub ahead of print, September 1, 2010. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2010.29673
Diabetic Mediterranean Diet 