Well well, you have to look at the details, if you already have heart disease, which you have since you had a stroke then the Mediterranean would help you. Don't let your doctor off the hook unless s/he specifies EXACTLY what that diet entails.
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=163346&CultureCode=en
A “Mediterranean” diet, high in fruit, vegetables, fish and unrefined
foods, is linked to a lower risk of heart attack and stroke in people
who already have heart disease, according to a study of over 15,000
people in 39 countries around the world. The research also showed that
eating greater amounts of healthy food was more important for these
people than avoiding unhealthy foods, such as refined grains, sweets,
desserts, sugared drinks and deep-fried food – a “Western” diet.
The study, which is published today (Monday) in the European Heart
Journal, showed that for every 100 people eating the highest proportion
of healthy “Mediterranean” foods, there were three fewer heart attacks,
strokes or deaths compared to 100 people eating the least amount of
healthy foods during nearly four years of follow-up from the time the
participants joined the study.
The researchers asked 15,482 people with stable coronary artery
disease and an average age of 67 to complete a lifestyle questionnaire
when they joined the STABILITY trial [1], which was looking at whether a
drug called darapladib reduced the risk of heart attacks, strokes and
deaths. The questionnaire included simple questions on diet;
participants were asked how many times a week they consumed servings
from food groups such meat, fish, dairy foods, whole grains or refined
grains, vegetables (excluding potatoes), fruit, desserts, sweets, sugary
drinks, deep-fried foods and alcohol. Depending on their answers, they
were given a “Mediterranean diet score” (MDS), which assigned more
points for increased consumption of healthy foods with a total range of
0-24; a “Western diet score” (WDS) assigned points for increased
consumption of unhealthy foods.
After 3.7 years of follow-up, a major adverse cardiovascular event
(MACE) – heart attack, stroke or death – had occurred in a total of 1588
(10.1%) of the study participants. MACE occurred in 7.3% of the 2,885
people with an MDS score of 15 or over (who ate the most amount of
healthy foods), 10.5% of 4,018 people with an MDS of 13-14, and 10.8% of
8,579 people with an MDS of 12 or lower.
Professor Ralph Stewart, from Auckland City Hospital, University of
Auckland, New Zealand, who led the study, said: “After adjusting for
other factors that might affect the results, we found that every one
unit increase in the Mediterranean Diet Score was associated with a
seven percent reduction In the risk of heart attacks, strokes or death
from cardiovascular or other causes in patients with existing heart
disease. In contrast, greater consumption of foods thought be less
healthy and more typical of Western diets, was not associated with an
increase in these adverse events, which we had not expected.”
The findings were consistent across all the geographical regions involved in the study [2].
He continued: “The research suggests we should place more emphasis on
encouraging people with heart disease to eat more healthy foods, and
perhaps focus less on avoiding unhealthy foods.”
However, he warned that this did not mean that people could eat unhealthy foods with impunity.
“The main message is that some foods – and particularly fruit and
vegetables – seem to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and
this benefit is not explained by traditional risk factors such as good
and bad cholesterol or blood pressure. If you eat more of these foods in
preference to others, you may lower your risk. The study found no
evidence of harm from modest consumption of foods such as refined
carbohydrates, deep fried foods, sugars and deserts. However, because
the assessments were relatively crude, some harm cannot be excluded.
Also, the study did not assess the total intake of calories, which is a
major determinant of obesity-related health problems, and we were unable
to assess good fats and bad fats, so we can not comment of their
importance to health.”
The researchers did not specify what a “serving” of food might be and
relied on people’s interpretation of it; this usually meant that a
serving might be an individual piece of fruit, a portion of meat, fish,
vegetables or grains that would be enough for one person. This is a
limitation of the study, but also a strength.
Prof Stewart said: “We did not specify what a serving meant because
we needed to make the questionnaire very simple and intuitive, so that
it would be easy and quick to complete. This is a limitation because the
estimates of foods eaten are relatively crude and imprecise, but also a
strength because we were able to show that even though diet is very
complex, a few simple questions can identify a dietary pattern
associated with a lower risk of recurrent heart attacks or strokes.”
[1] Stabilization of Atherosclerotic Plaque by Initiation of Darapladib Therapy (STABILITY) trial.
[2] The participating countries, numbers of centres per world part
and number of patients per country were: Western Europe (191 centres),
including Belgium (202), Denmark (102), France (250), Germany (1089),
Greece (187), Italy (256), The Netherlands (444), Norway (113), South
Africa (386), Spain (474), Sweden (299), United Kingdom (184); Eastern
Europe (109 centres), including Bulgaria (222), Czech Republic (774),
Estonia (77), Hungary (410), Poland (510), Romania (411), Russian
Federation (654), Slovakia (120), Ukraine (353); North America (188
centres), including USA (3102), Canada (780), Mexico (141); South
America (46 centres), including Argentina (542), Brazil (384), Chile
(195), Peru (78); Asia/Pacific (118 centres), including Australia (306),
China (369), India (398), Japan (318), Korea (503), Hong Kong (117),
New Zealand (202), Pakistan (250), Philippines (219), Taiwan (200),
Thailand (207).
No comments:
Post a Comment