HHS HealthBeat (February 25, 2009)

Mediterranean eating

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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Eating the way people traditionally do around the Mediterranean seems to do a woman’s heart good – and also, her brain.

Researchers base that on a study of eating patterns of close to 75,000 American women over 20 years.  The scientists looked for patterns like those along the Mediterranean, where people eat less red meat and more monounsaturated fat, plant proteins, whole grains and fish.

The researchers compared women whose diets were in the top and the bottom 20 percent.

Teresa Fung of Simmons College in Boston:

[Teresa Fung speaks] "The risk of heart disease and stroke combined was 29 percent lower. And death from those diseases was 39 percent lower. And these are pretty dramatic reductions in risk."

The study in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: February, 25 2009