Mediterranean Diet And Heart Health

Diet plays a very important role in the ability of the human body to be able to perform optimally. Important nutrients from products that are consumed are necessary as the body can't produce these certain vital minerals and elements. A diet though where the incorrect types of foods are consumed in high volumes, may result in an increase in a person's mortality risk.

The study

Researchers interviewed over 15,000 patients with an average age of 67 years old and who were diagnosed with stable coronary artery disease. The questions asked were regarding which foods they consumed and the choices were those foods which are mentioned above. The researchers wanted to determine whether assessing these patients' diets could be linked to the development of major cardiovascular events (MACE) such as strokes, heart attacks or sudden death.

The patients were then scored depending on what answers they gave. If they said that they consumed more healthy foods then they were given a 'Mediterranean diet score' (MDS), and if they chose more unhealthy foods they were given a 'Western diet score' (WDS).

The participants were then followed up after nearly 4 years and it was found that just over 10% of them had suffered a MACE. The following findings were also made:

• Just over 7% of the patients who had an MDS score of 15 experienced a MACE.
• 10,5% of patients who had an MDS score of 13-14 experienced a MACE.
• Nearly 11% of patients with an MDS score of 12 or less had experienced a MACE.

Some limitations such as not assessing the total calorie intake of food, which has been shown to be a major determining factor for obesity-related health issues, was noted. Also, the researchers weren't able to assess bad fats and good fats, therefore they weren't able to comment on the importance of these foods to the patients' health.

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Interpretation of the findings

It was noted, after other factors which could have affected the results were adjusted, that for every 1 unit that was given on the MDS the patient's risk of developing a MACE decreased by 7%.

What was interesting to see though, was that an increased consumption of the foods of a Western diet did not result in an increased risk of developing cardiovascular complications.

The clinical significance

The suggestion here would then be that healthcare workers should put more emphasis on their patients eating more healthy foods than the emphasis of avoiding unhealthy foods. This doesn't mean that patients should then have free rein to eat unhealthy foods, but rather that foods such as vegetables and fruit should be taken as a preference over others.