The Right Diet to Protect Your Heart
It’s easy to understand why people are confused about what constitutes a heart-healthy diet.
We’re constantly bombarded with an array of supposedly healthful approaches to eating. There are the restrictive diets – low-calorie, low-fat or no-carb. There are the eat-only-this diets – lemonade, chicken soup, grapefruit, or cabbage soup. There are the glamorous-city diets – South Beach, Beverly Hills or Hollywood. There’s even a caveman diet.
None of these are the right choice for your heart, though.
Instead, the right choice for your heart is the Mediterranean diet. Characterized by whole grains, olive oil, vegetables, lean protein, nuts, beans and seeds, the Mediterranean diet has been proven to reduce cardiovascular disease. In 2013, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed a 30 percent reduction in heart attack and stroke among those on the Mediterranean diet.
However, too few Americans know about it and even fewer have tried it.
In celebration of American Heart Month, Cleveland Clinic is promoting a “Love Your Heart” consumer education campaign. The campaign included a survey of 1,000 Americans on their perceptions of heart disease and how to prevent it.
The survey showed that half (52 percent) of Americans have tried a diet in the past year to potentially improve their heart health. Asked which diet they perceive to be the most heart-healthy, 28 percent incorrectly chose a low-fat diet; only 17 percent chose the Mediterranean diet, and only 5 percent had actually tried it.
Research shows that many more should be adopting the Mediterranean approach. In 2013, the PREDIMED trial compared those on a Mediterranean diet to those who were told to limit their dietary fat intake. The trial then measured the rate of major cardiovascular events – heart attack, stroke, or death from cardiovascular causes – in the two groups, finding 30 percent fewer of these serious outcomes in the Mediterranean group. The results were so striking that the trial was halted early.
So it’s clear which diet is best at protecting your heart. Now, it’s a matter of spreading the word. And according to our survey, people want to know about this, saying that they are open to lifestyle change, especially if their family members and health history is a factor. Nearly 7 out of 10 respondents said they would likely change their diet because of their family health history.
That’s half the battle. The other half is making sure that people are going about it the right way – not just with the right diet, but also with regular physical activity that promotes a healthy weight and physical fitness.
To learn more about the Mediterranean diet, heart-healthy living, recipes, and other resources, visit our “Love Your Heart” website at https://cle.clinic/loveyourheart.
Asesor independiente
9 年Thank you for this excellent post! Far beyond just adopting the Mediterranean diet whose benefits are clearly supported by recent multiple hard scientific data (30% MACE risk reduction, "French paradox", etc.), the Mediterranean lifestyle is the real center in the equation. Being Mediterranean is more of an attitude towards life meaning wisely choosing what you eat (i.e. Olive oil, olives, blue fin fish, garlic, tomatoes, whole grains & legumes, etc.), drinking wine instead of beer, walking or biking instead of driving, taking enough daily sunlight, establishing strong social and affective ties w/your community/village members, etc. There is no standardized Mediterranean diet among the members of the "mare nostrum" in spite of sharing the common afore mentioned food elements. There is such a huge diversity in the diets of the communities along the Adriatic Sea as well as in the Italian, Sicilian, Barcelonian, or even Mediterranean North African comunities. It seems like some times what we are looking for is a magic bullet. Instead we should encourage our community or patients to adopt a Mediterranean lifestyle. Warmest rgds Dr. Jose-Antonio Vargas Surgeon/Gastroenterologist and a true believer of the Mediterranean lifestyle.
Clinical Research Coordinator Manager | UX Designer and Researcher | Clinical Research Nurse
9 年Yes! This goes to show you how damaging studies and sometimes government organizations can be in terms of health. For years government funded agencies have promoted and pushed 'low fat' only diets on the public for heart and cardiovascular health (prob in reaction to the 1950s' MORE BUTTER attitude). However, study after study shows that low-fat as you point out very well in your article, is not the key in treating or preventing heart and cardiovascular issues. This is especially frustrating as someone who recently graduated a BSN program where we had to sit in 4hour lectures about nutrition still championing the old food pyramid and low-fat point of view; being forced to chose answers on exams and give patients foods from the kitchen labeled as 'cardiac' when a voice deep inside you just wishes to yell from the rooftop!
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9 年I found that almost all the ingredients from the Mediteranian Diet recipes are included on the Weight Watcher's A-Z food list. Excellent focal point. Thanks!