Mediterranean Diet And Metabolic Syndrome

Online, March 14, 2011 (Newswire.com) - If you're not familiar with this diet you should know that it is considered to be a heart healthy diet. It is very popular in the regions of Greece and Italy but it has become quite widespread in acceptance. It is important to stress that there are so many different types of diets that all have benefits for some people.

There are some people that will be very healthy eating a meat based diet where others need to eat less meat and more vegetables. Further, there are people who by simply eating a balanced diet experience good healthy and well being.

Here's some info from a good article from usatoday.com by Kathleen Doheny about the mediterranean diet that you may find helpful:

The Mediterranean diet, long known to be heart-healthy, also reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors that boost the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes, according to a new review.

Researchers from Greece and Italy reviewed the results of 50 published studies with a total of more than 500,000 participants as part of a meta-analysis - a statistical analysis of the findings of similar studies - on the Mediterranean diet.

Among their findings: the natural foods-based diet is associated with a lower risk of hikes in blood pressure, blood sugar and triglycerides, as well as a reduced risk of a drop in good cholesterol - all of which are risk factors in metabolic syndrome.

"It is one of the first times in the literature, maybe the first, that someone looks through a meta-analysis at the cardiovascular disease risk factors and not only the hard outcome" of heart disease and other conditions, said Dr. Demosthenes Panagiotakos, an associate professor at Harokopio University of Athens in Greece.

The study is published in the March 15 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The Mediterranean diet is a pattern marked by daily consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grain cereals, and low-fat dairy products; weekly consumption of fish, poultry, tree nuts, and legumes; high consumption of monounsaturated fatty acids, primarily from olives and olive oils; and a moderate daily consumption of wine or other alcoholic beverages, normally with meals. Red meat intake and processed foods are kept to a minimum.

Metabolic syndrome - increasingly common in the United States - occurs if someone has three or more of the following five conditions: blood pressure equal to or higher than 130/85, fasting blood glucose equal to or higher than 100 mg/dL, a waist measuring 35 inches or more in women and 40 inches or more in men, a HDL ("good") cholesterol under 40 in men and under 50 in women, triglycerides equal to or higher than 150 mg/dL.

In the review, Panagiotakos and his team found the Mediterranean diet "is strongly associated with decreased metabolic syndrome risk," declining to pinpoint an exact percentage because the data would not fully support it.

The research team also noted that further study was needed, as a few of the studies reviewed also included interventions such as physical activity and smoking cessation.

The findings come as no surprise, said Dr. Ronald Goldberg, professor of medicine at the Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, who reviewed the findings.

Read more at: usatoday.com

In a society where fast foods are so easily accessible some people believe that the Mediterranean Diet will not be easily adopted. Most people eat fast food not so much for the taste but because of time. With our busy lives it's quite a challenge to find quick healthy foods so we often opt for fast food.

It's important to know that there are healthy alternatives that are quick and tasty. There's a list of healthy recipes and snacks at globalfitnessjournal.org