An apple a day, keeps the doctors away: A Mediterranean diet keeps the heart attacks away

The article “Mediterranean diet shown to reduce heart disease, landmark study finds” was published on 2-25-13 by Kay Lazar, a journalist for the Boston Globe, and can be found at    http://www.boston.com/dailydose/2013/02/25/mediterranean-diet-shown-reduce-heart-disease-landmark-study-finds/KG3FC3fuhcz2HxT7XLbFaK/story.html. 

The article shows us that a Mediterranean diet is very beneficial to our health, and lowers the risk of getting heart attacks when we are older.  In order to prove that the Mediterranean diet does improve health, a group of Spanish researched tracked thousands of participants over 5 years and found that eaters who had the Mediterranean diet had a 30 percent reduction in the rate of heart disease compared to those who did not have the diet.  The Spanish researchers performed this study to show us that the Mediterranean diet does lower your risk of heart disease compared to a diet of more fats. 
 

Dr.Ramon Estruch, a senior consultant at the Hospital of Barcelona, led the Spanish team of 7,447 people from ages 55 to 80.  All of the participants in the study had diabetes or at least three major risk factors for heart disease, such as obesity, high blood pressure, elevated levels of bad cholesterol, or a family history of early heart disease.  At the end of the study, it was determined that a Mediterranean diet that contained extra-virgin olive oil or mixed nuts would significantly reduce heart attacks, strokes, and deaths from heart problems.
 

After 5 years of eating the Mediterranean diet, the control group that did not eat from the diet had 109 heart attacks whereas in the group that ate the Mediterranean diet with extra nuts had 83 and the group with extra olive oil had 96.  This resulted in the fact that for every 1,000 people who regularly ate the Mediterranean diet, three people each ear would avoid a heart attack or stroke.

This quote spoken by Dr. Estruch shows us how important diet is, ““As a doctor it is easier to say take a pill,” Estruch said. “But diet is a very powerful effect in protecting against cardiovascular disease.”  (Boston. Com).  This quote shows us that our diet has a major effect on whether we get heart disease or not.  Although many of us are not thinking about diet now since we are young, it is important that we start to understand what a healthy diet is because we do not want to face the consequences of a bad diet and health in our future as adults.  The study shows us that the Mediterranean diet does improve your health and help you avoid heart attacks.
 

The article shows us that the Mediterranean diet lowers your risk of a heart attack or stroke by 30 percent.  The Mediterranean diet is made up of nuts like walnuts, and almonds, fresh fruit, vegetable, fish, olive oil, and red wine. 
 

The diet avoids processed foods which are high in saturated fats and red meats which as we learned in Biology are the worst protein source.  The Mediterranean diet focuses a lot on fish and nuts as a source of protein, this relate to our studies on what the U.S.D.A Pyramid says when compared to the accurate Harvard Pyramid does.  In class, we learned that the best protein sources are nuts and beans and the second best source is chicken, turkey, fish, or eggs.  Since the Mediterranean diet avoids red meat, we are eliminating a poor protein source that is high in saturated fat and focusing on fish and nuts which deliver healthy fats like monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fats which are good for your heart.   Fish is important to the diet because it contains Omega-3 fatty acids that lower triglycerides, decrease blood clotting, and moderate blood pressure.
 

As we learned from the Harvard Health Pyramid, diet is not the only thing needed to keep us healthy.  Although the Mediterranean diet did reduce the risk of heart attacks by 30 percent, we learned that there are many more ways to stay in shape and you cannot just focus on what you eat but also how you exercise.    At the bottom of the Harvard Health Pyramid, it says Daily Exercise and Weight control.  Although diet is very important, you also need to exercise and control your weight to stay healthy and avoid heart attacks.  The Harvard Pyramid also tells us that alcohol is used in moderation unless contraindicated, red wine is a big part of the Mediterranean diet because it provides antioxidants and reduces heart disease. 
 

From this article, I learned that the focus of the Mediterranean diet is about making wise choices about what types of fat you consume.  The diet discourages fats like saturated and trans, which are found in processed food, but encourages unsaturated fats, monounsaturated fats, and polyunsaturated fats.  Olive oil is a major part of the diet ant the main source of fat because it helps to reduce cholesterol levels and provides healthy monounsaturated fat.
 

This article was very helpful to me because my great grandpa struggled with heart attacks and eventually died because of his unhealthy diet that was full of saturated fats that clogged his blood flow.  When my grandmother was growing up in Chicago, her family was very poor and when people are poor they can’t afford healthy foods which are usually more expensive than processed food. 

This article was interesting to me because it encouraged me to eat healthier and help my family and friends to eat healthier to and maybe try out the Mediterranean diet, too!

I think it is important for us as teenagers to learn about our diets and nutrition because when you are older and are faced with a health problem, sometimes it can be too late to change old habits and how your body is functioning.  Seeing how much the Mediterranean diet affects people’s risk of heart attacks encourages me to eat healthy now so I will not face the problems later on and can continue to live a healthy lifestyle. 

These two food pyramids show the Mediterranean diet in words and pictures:

Mediterranean diet for heart health - MayoClinic.com." Mayo Clinic. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. <http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mediterranean-diet/CL00011>.