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Research shows that the Mediterranean Diet, which emphasizes whole grains, greens, fruits, vegetables, and olive oil, is healthier then the typical American diet, which is high in fat and processed foods. There is a significantly decreased risk of heart disease and cancer in the Mediterranean cultures, which have been thriving on these foods for thousands of years.

The Mediterranean Diet can be explained quite simply by explaining what whole grain actually is. Grains consist of three layers:1) the inner germ, 2) the middle endosperm, and 3) the outer bran. Processing white flour and white rice keeps the two inside layers, but removes the outside layer, the bran, with its fiber, vitamins, and minerals. With whole grains, you get all of those nutrients plus complex carbohydrates, protein, fiber, antioxidants, and phytochemicals, which may help guard against cancer and heart disease.

Also, whole grains provide energy and calories with little fat, and then lengthen the time that it takes to digest foods, so that you feel full longer. This simple explanation of why the Mediterranean Diet is far superior to our Western diet shows us why fiber is a significantly important factor in weight reduction and good health. Weight control is aided by the slower emptying of the stomach when you ingest soluble fibers. This causes a feeling of fullness and a decrease in hunger, causing fewer calories to be consumed.

The Mediterranean Diet is rich in olive oil, vegetables, legumes, fish, chicken, fruits, and pasta, with inftequent consumption of red meat. This diet was associated with approximately a 35% reduction in the risk of mortality due to coronary heart disease and a 25% reduction in the death rate due to cancer. It appears that eating the Mediterranean Diet is associated with significantly reducing inflammatory proteins that are present in our bloodstream. One marker in particular, called the C-reactive protein, has been associated with an increased risk of heart disease. It appears that the Mediterranean Diet lowers this C-reactive protein, thus decreasing the risk of heart disease.

Mediterranean people have a significantly lower risk of heart disease and cancer than Americans have. Most of their benefit is provided by their liberal use of olive oil. Although their diets contain 25-35% fat calories, this fat is monounsaturated, heart-healthy fat. Mediterraneans use olive oil and olives in almost everything they eat. It is used in pastas, breads, vegetables, salads, fish, and even in cakes and pastries, which are cooked with olive oil. Also, the Mediterranean people eat less animal fat than most countries, including the United States; and consume significantly more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Olive oil’s monounsaturated fats help to increase the good HDL cholesterol and decrease the bad LDL cholesterol. This leads to less cholesterol blocking your arteries and a significantly lower incidence of heart attacks and strokes. Olive oil also contains certain antioxidants called polyphenols, which have cancer-protective qualities.

And if all that isn’t enough to help the Mediterranean people keep healthy, they also have a secret weapon that most Americans know or care little about. Walking! Mediterraneans, in addition to eating healthy, walk almost all of the time. They walk to work, to visit friends, or just to leisurely stroll through their cities and countrysides. They climb up and down hills and keep in good shape with little or no thought to their aerobic activity. Walking just comes naturally!

In two separate studies reported in the September, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, it was reported that the mortality rates were 65% lower in elderly people who followed the Mediterranean Diet combined with 30 minutes of daily walking. The Mediterranean Diet consisted primarily of olive oil rather than butter or margarine, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains, vegetables, potatoes, fruits and fish. These people also consumed very little meat and whole fat dairy products.

Researchers found that people on the Mediterranean Diet had a significant decrease in body weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides, and blood sugar and insulin levels. These individuals also had a significant increase in the good HDL cholesterol, which helps to prevent heart disease. This 12-year study followed approximately 2,500 men and women ages 70-90 in 11 different European countries.

In a separate study it was reported that the Mediterranean Diet helped people lose weight by changing the body chemistry, by reducing dangerous insulin abnormalities and chronic inflammation of arteries and other tissues in the body. This diet reduced the incidence of the metabolicsyndrome, which causes the accumulation of fat around the abdomen and increases the risk of diabetes, heart,disease, cancer and Alzheimer ’s disease.

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