Has your doctor warned you about an increased risk of cardiovascular disease? One way to reduce your risk is to focus on Mediterranean and low-fat foods. According to an international study published in the journal BMJ On March 29, 2023, these diets reduce the likelihood of death or heart attack in people who may have cardiovascular problems.
Mediterranean and low-fat diets: The two most heart-healthy
To examine the effect of nutritional programs on preventing death and heart attacks in patients at risk for cardiovascular disease, researchers reviewed 40 trials. The latter represented a total of 35,548 participants who studied 7 different diets: low-fat, Mediterranean, low-fat, modified-fat, low-fat and sodium, Ornish, and Pritiken. Some trials looked at two at the same time (eg Mediterranean vs low-fat).
Analyzes showed that programs based on the Mediterranean diet were more effective than other dietary measures in protecting patients at risk of developing cardiovascular disease. They prevent all-cause mortality (17 fewer deaths per 1,000 over five years) and the incidence of non-fatal heart attacks (17 fewer deaths per 1,000). High-risk people who have adopted this cuisine also have fewer strokes (7 fewer per 1,000).
Low-fat diets have also been shown to be effective in reducing all-cause mortality (9 fewer deaths per 1,000) and non-fatal myocardial infarction (7 fewer per 1,000).
Compared to each other, there were no convincing differences between the Mediterranean and low-fat programs for mortality or non-fatal heart attacks.select Authors in communication.
Infarction: Effects more noticeable in high-risk patients
The researchers found that the beneficial effects of both diets were most pronounced for people at high risk of cardiovascular disease. They recorded 36 fewer all-cause deaths per 1,000 and 39 fewer cardiovascular deaths per 1,000 among individuals who followed the Mediterranean diet program for 5 years.
The other five dietary programs generally had little or no benefit over minimal intervention, generally based on low to moderate certainty evidence.Scientists say.
They concluded that the Mediterranean diet and low-fat meals “May reduce the risk of death and non-fatal myocardial infarction in people at risk of cardiovascular disease”.
