A 4 year study by the spanish government (ministy of health) of the Meditteranean Diet vs the Low Fat (AHA guidlines) of persons 55 to 80 and one of the largest ever showed significant improvements of blood pressure,lipid levels,insulin resistance and inflammatory compounds for those eating the Med diet (vegetables,legumes,olive oil, and walnuts) over the lowfat American heart association's diet. This was reported on the july 4 issue of the ''Annals of Internal Medicine'' and by the Spanish government (ministry of health)......

Hi 6'3":wave:,

I've heard over the years at least a gazillion times about the health yielding effects of the Mediterranean diet on heart health but iit's never been exactly specified what or where this diet is. Often France and Italy are mentioned so then for Italy it would be high in pasta, tomatoes, olive oil. cheese and garlic and garlic. For France it would be bread, cheese, cream and butter. BOTH would have VERY large amounts of daily wine. Neither do much with walnuts or legumes compared to other cuisines.
Of course the Mediterranean is also North Aftrica, Turkey and the Western stretches of the middle East where legumes are extremely important and wheat and bean dishes form the core of the diet...unlike France and Italy.

I guess all include more seafood than you might find in the diet of somebody from Kansas or Iowa.

My guess is the one thing these countries REALLY, REALLY have in common is a HUGE and STEADY consumption of wine compared to North America.

There is ANOTHER wrinkle: these countries have had a nice warm climate for many MANY millennia. Perhaps as a result they deal with bloodfats in a different way compared to those decended from the frigid stretches of Scandinavia and the vaste steppes of Siberia and the East where blubber is a warm blanket.

My guess is the one thing these countries REALLY, REALLY have in common is a HUGE and STEADY consumption of wine compared to North America.

Yes, wine is a common denominator, but in the year I've been eating/living the Mediterranean way, other differences I've found are:

Folks in that part of the world walk everywhere. They walk to school, work, they live in skinny four-story buildings where they have to walk up steps. They don't have a machine for everything to make their life easier.

Red meat. Here we eat red meat a lot. Folks in that part of the world view red meat as a once or twice a month treat. The centerpieces of meals tend to be veggies (I'm talking about Greece, Italy, Spain, France...not Turkey or Africa, although when I was in Turkey, we ate a tiny smidgeon of lamb every other day with our basmati rice).

Stress. We're very stressed out. Not good for our hearts. We work through our lunches, eat our breakfast sitting on an expressway in traffic on the way to work, multi-task during dinner. Our kids don't go outside and play anymore after school. They're enrolled in constant extra-curricular activities, and the homework given to even kindergarteners is often staggering. American kids, as well as parents, have very little relaxation time. I'm not saying everyone who borders the Mediterranean doesn't have stress, but we're talking about countries where often its inhabitants still take a midday siesta. I was chatting with a client of mine (lawyer who works 12-hour days) who was visiting Greece. He was in a store ready to buy something for his wife -- I forget what...maybe jewelry or a nice dress -- and the owner of the store told him he'd have to come back after two o'clock; that it was siesta time. He shut the store down and went home to be with his family for lunch.

Lastly, balanced diets. We've been told for years to eliminate foods from our diets. First it was sugar. So we strived for "sugar-free" foods. Then it was fats. All fats are bad. So we went out and bought fat-free stuff. Then it was carbs. All carbs are bad. Then we went out and and bought carb-free foods. One of the first things I noticed about this diet was you eat everything in moderation, the focus being on preparing your meals with fresh ingredients, not Hamburger Helper, not Stouffers, not Pasta Roni, not Lean Pockets.

Just what I've observed :)

Oh...it's only a small part of Italy that lives on pasta and cannolis, the southern portion. Northern Italy is very different. The focus there is on fresh breads (focaccia), garden-fresh veggies, legumes and lean meats/fish. It's also way cold in northern Italy. Remember the last winter Olympics?

Lenin...Steno...You guys have good points about the Med diet...I guess what caught my eye was that all the participants already had bad blood parameters so i'm not sure what their diets were before the study but that eating accordingly to this study/diet they improved their blood readings better than the AHA diet. Of course never enough details in these studies. later ....