A generation ago, Dr. Ancel Keys and colleagues at the University of Minnesota published findings that, if heeded then, would have extended millions of American lives during the last 30 years and millions more in the years to come.

The researchers examined the relationship between diet and heart disease rates in seven countries and found that people who lived along the Mediterranean Sea suffered only a tiny fraction of the heart attacks and coronary deaths experienced by Americans and people in other Western industrialized countries. Among people along the Mediterranean, dietary fat consumed was mostly of vegetable origin; among the others, diets were rich in highly saturated animal fats from meat and dairy products.

In the years since the seven countries study other researchers have helped to tease out the various influential features of what has come to be called the "Mediterranean diet", and a number of cookbooks have been published promoting delicious foods that just happen to protect hearts and blood vessels and, as a bonus, may also help prevent several common cancers.

Click here a Mediterranean Diet diagram: Food Pyramid, showing what to eat

Various studies have substantiated Dr. Keys's initial observations and shown that deaths from coronary heart disease are far less common in countries along the Mediterranean than in northern Europe. In addition, some researchers have tested the benefits of a Mediterranean-style diet in people who face a high risk of dying of heart disease.

The latest study [done in France and pub'd last month in Circulation, an AMA journal, found:]

Those following the Mediterranean diet were 50 percent to 70 percent less likely than the comparison group to develop recurrent heart disease ... [emphasis added]

To read MORE, see the link below]

Click here for Mediterranean diet study, cont'd (rest of Jane Brody's article)

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