Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of heart disease

Dr. Linton Harris from the University of Melbourne and his colleagues made an interesting observation. They noticed that immigrants from the Mediterranean countries living in Australia were less likely to die from cardiovascular diseases than native Australians. The scientists decided to study their patients' diets based on their backgrounds and see if there was a link between eating habits and mortality rates.

The study covered over 40 thousand men and women aged 40 to 69 years. Of these, 24% are immigrants from the Mediterranean countries, the rest are indigenous people of Australia. All of them were under the supervision of doctors for 10 years.

Scientists regularly tracked how much traditional Mediterranean food their patients consumed. Control was carried out on a number of positions. The main ones were fruits, vegetables, fish, meat and other animal products of animal origin.

The study found that those who adhered the most strictly to the Mediterranean diet had a 30% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than those who were only superficially familiar with this diet.

L. Harris noted that such a diet can bring the greatest benefit to patients with diabetes. "Our results suggest that this diet reduces mortality from coronary heart disease," he said.