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Study Finds the Mediterranean Lifestyle, Not Just Diet, May Improve Heart Health
The Mediterranean diet has long been praised for its positive health benefits, but new research found that a Mediterranean lifestyle—including but not limited to diet—may specifically boost heart health.1
While the Mediterranean diet, with its focus on fruit, vegetables, olive oil, whole grains, fish, and lean meats, is helpful for a myriad of health reasons, researchers found that the lifestyle surrounding the diet was worth emphasizing.
“It’s not just the diet, it is the other environmental factors also that benefit us,” said John P. Higgins, MD, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at the UTHealth Houston McGovern Medical School who was not involved in the new study.
Dr. Higgins continued, “Things like setting up your environment so that walking is the healthy choice, being happy and smiling, having sociable interactions, as well as good sleep, appear to work in concert with the Mediterranean diet to improve health and wellness.”
Adhering to a certain lifestyle may sound overwhelming, but the Mediterranean lifestyle is fairly simple to follow. Sustainable shifts in nutrition, physical activity, and social life are all that are needed for these heart-healthy habits.
How Eating Habits Impact Heart Health
According to, Jenifer Bowman, RD, a registered dietitian in the department of cardiology at UC Health in Fort Collins, Colorado, early research on the Mediterranean meal plan sought to identify one single nutrient that was responsible for reducing the risk of everything from heart disease to cancer to Alzheimer’s disease.
However, she emphasized, “it’s not just one individual nutrient, it’s the power of all of these nutrients all together that makes the Mediterranean meal plan overall healthier.”
The eating style’s prioritization of fruits and vegetables provides both fiber and antioxidants. It also encourages whole grains, as well as beans—more high-fiber foods.
“Fiber takes some work for your digestive system to break down, so you have a more gradual raise in your blood sugar with higher fiber food,” explained Bowman. “Fiber also has the ability to bind to cholesterol and help remove that cholesterol from our digestive tract, which helps manage cholesterol overall.”
The Mediterranean diet also emphasizes healthy fats, especially olive oil, nuts, seeds, and lean meat, especially fish.
According to Mercedes Sotos-Prieto, PhD, an adjunct assistant professor of environmental health at the Harvard School of Public Health these foods have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, including Omega-3 fatty acids, that boost heart health by reducing triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood, reducing the risk of irregular heartbeats, and slowing the build-up of plaque that hardens and blocks the arteries.
According to John P. Higgins, MD, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at the UT Health Houston McGovern Medical School the way of eating also boosts levels of nitric oxide, a gas that regulates blood vessel dilation, and therefore blood flow, which boosts heart function.
Following a Mediterranean Diet
If an individual wants to start adhering to a Mediterranean diet, Bowman encouraged keeping it simple for the sake of sustainability.
“Your perception of what healthy eating is often more complicated than it actually is. It does not have to be only fresh fruits and vegetables, that’s a huge myth. Frozen is fine.”
If fatty fish is not accessible, lean meat such as skinless chicken breasts provides healthy protein without adding saturated fat. The important thing is to avoid processed, prepackaged meals when possible, she said.
“People in this [Mediterranean] region are not eating macaroni and cheese and frozen pizza,” she said, adding that it can be helpful to keep in mind that three-quarters of your plate should be plant-based.
“Half of the plate should be vegetables, a quarter of it is lean protein, then the other quarter high fiber plant foods like beans or whole grains,” she said. “The Mediterranean meal plan is not anything fancy. It’s fruits, vegetables, lean meats, legumes, and whole grains.”
Until Next time: Stay Safe, Stay Healthy and be Careful out in the World.
James A Vito, D.M.D.