January 19, 2010 – By Janis Graham / Readers Digest

If you’re diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, your doctor will almost certainly tell you that you need to lose some weight. Now research identifies the best way to do it: Eat the Mediterranean way.

In the study, 215 overweight people with diabetes followed either a classic, low-fat regimen (based on American Heart Association guidelines) or a higher-fat, Mediterranean-style diet (lots of olive oil, as well as vegetables, whole grains, and fish and poultry). After four years, both groups had lost similar amounts of weight—but only 44 percent of the Mediterranean-style eaters needed diabetes drugs, compared with 70 percent of the low-fat dieters.

The benefits come partly because a Mediterranean diet is full of healthy foods and partly because it doesn’t rely on fat-reduced foods high in refined carbs, says Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Read on to find out which foods will help your blood sugar.

Eat less of these: Beef, lamb, pork
And more of these: Fish, poultry, beans

Eat less of these: Butter, margarine, butter substitue
And more of these: Extra-virgin olive oil or other vegetable oils such as soy bean and canola

Eat less of these: Low-fat crackers, chips
And more of these: Walnuts or other nuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, olives

Eat less of these: Reduced-fat cookies
And more of these: Fresh fruit

Eat less of these: Egg substitute; fat-free yogurt; reduced-fat American, Cheddar, and Swiss cheese
And more of these: Whole eggs; whole yogurt; feta, Parmesan, or goat cheese

Eat less of these: Baked potatoes, bread, rice
And more of these: Roasted or sautéed vegetables tossed with herbs and drizzled with olive oil

January 19, 2010 – www.presstv.ir

Apart from its various health benefits, following the Mediterranean diet can help reduce the risk of developing stomach cancer, a new study finds.

The Mediterranean diet had long been linked to a reduced risk of a number of diseases including depression, inflammation, premature death, diabetes, birth defect, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease and obesity.

Rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish, cereals and olive oil, with a relatively low intake of red meat and dairy products, Mediterranean diet is believed to protect individuals against gastric cancer, stressing that other diets may boost the risk of the disease.

According to the study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, adopting the diet lowers by 33 percent the risk of gastric cancer — the second-leading cause of cancer death worldwide.

The study found the stronger the adherence to the diet, the lower the risk of developing the condition became.

“The results add to the evidence for the role of the Mediterranean diet in reducing cancer risk and add further support for the need to continue to promote the Mediterranean diet in areas where it is disappearing,” concluded lead researcher Carlos A. Gonzalez of the Catalan Institute for Oncology in Barcelona.

Scientists urged individuals to adopt a healthy diet and identify dietary recommendations effective in reducing the incidence of this cancer.

December 4, 2009 – Global warming: less meat = less heat by Klimato kaita
Everyone can fight climate change by not eating meat one day a week, urged Sir Paul McCartney at a European Parliament public hearing on “Global Warming and Food Policy: Less Meat = Less Heat” on Thursday. The panel of global warming and food policy experts, including Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Dr Rajendra K. Pachauri, urged legislators to encourage people to do more individually to fight climate change.

Livestock account for 18% of total greenhouse gas emissions, which is double the share of transport, according to the 2006 UN Food and Agriculture Organisation report “Livestock’s Long Shadow”. Many speakers also highlighted the inefficiency of producing meat, rather than crops, to feed the world.

Less meat = better health

Read the article here.

Today, his thriving Chicago practice focuses exclusively on preventing disease, and Devries is far more likely to counsel patients about diet, sleep habits and exercise than to prescribe high-tech scans or cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Motivated by a growing sense that America’s health care system is broken, doctors such as Devries and public health experts are turning to preventive medicine for a potential fix. And lawmakers, eager to curb rising health care costs, are paying close attention.

Statins can reduce risk of heart events by one-third. But studies have shown the Mediterranean diet is associated with a 72 percent reduction in cholesterol levels, Devries said.

Read the article here.

October 8, 2009 – By RONI CARYN RABIN – Nutrition: Lower Depression Risk Linked to Mediterranean Diet
Eating a Mediterranean-style diet — packed with fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, olive oil and fish — is good for your heart, many studies have found. Now scientists are suggesting the diet may be good for your mental health, too.

A study of over 10,000 Spaniards followed for almost four and half years on average found that those who reported eating a healthy Mediterranean diet at the beginning of the study were about half as likely to develop depression than those who said they did not stick to the diet.

Read the article here.

Jetting to the sunny climes of the Mediterranean couldn’t hurt if you feel a bout of depression settling in.

But a new study in the Archives of General Psychiatry finds that if your aim is to minimize your risk of depression in the first place, you might stay right where you are and make your plate look like it’s been to the Mediterranean. You should scale back on the meats and dairy fats, eat some nuts, and increase your consumption of fish, vegetables and legumes doused in olive oil.

Click here to read article.

Click here to view video.

The study explored obese individuals newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, examining need for medication and weight loss, and whether eating a Mediterranean diet is effective, safe and sustainable for diabetes treatment.

Over a four-year period, 215 overweight diabetics were assigned to eat either a low carbohydrate Mediterranean type diet, or a typical low fat diet. Both groups received nutritional counseling at the start of the study, and bi-monthly for the next three years.

Diabetics lost weight on the Mediterranean diet, decreased some markers for heart disease, and fewer of the study participants required medications to control blood sugar.

Read the entire article here.

August 26, 2009 – Obese People Have ‘Brain Degeneration’ A new study finds obese people have 8 percent less brain tissue than normal-weight individuals. Their brains look 16 years older than the brains of lean individuals, researchers said today.

Those classified as overweight have 4 percent less brain tissue and their brains appear to have aged prematurely by 8 years.

The results, based on brain scans of 94 people in their 70s, represent “severe brain degeneration,” said Paul Thompson, senior author of the study and a UCLA professor of neurology.

Read the article here.

August 13, 2009 – Prevent Alzheimer’s: Mediterranean diet and exercise? Two studies in this week’s (August 12, 2009) Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggest that physical activity and a Mediterranean-type diet offer cognitive (mental) benefits to older adults.

In the first study, U.S. researchers followed 1,900 adults, average age 77, for 5 years. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was diagnosed in 15%. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet and regular physical activity were independently associated with lower AD risk.

Mediterranean diet: fruits, vegetables, legumes (beans), cereals, fish, and mild to moderate alcohol consumption were positives in the diet scoring system. Meat and dairy were negatives.

Read the article here.