Mediterranean Diet is Good for Your Heart!

Wed, Jun 23, 2010

News

Does your diet include foods like extra virgin olive oil, fish, nuts, fruits, vegetables, legumes and a glass or two of wine? Well you are in luck. Known as the Mediterranean diet, these foods have been thought to be healthy with it’s help in loosing weight and lowering high cholesterol, but now a study shows that the Mediterranean diet is good for your heart!

What has become known as the Mediterranean diet is inspired by the foods consumed in Mediterranean countries such as Greece, southern Italy, Spain and Portugal. This diet of foods contain high amounts of monounsaturated fats and low amounts of saturated fats. It also includes good amounts of fiber through whole grains, fruits and vegetables and lean proteins from fish.

The study about heart health was recently done using data from the Emory Twins Heart Study, which showed that men that ate a Mediterranean-style diet had “greater heart rate variability (HRV)” than those that ate the usual western diet.

According to AFN, Jun Dai of Indiana University said, “This means that the autonomic system controlling someone’s heart rate works better in people who eat a diet similar to a Mediterranean diet.” This brings to light how the diet helps to reduce the risk of heart disease.

This means we need to watch our intake of saturated fats from meats and dairy, and load up on our fish and olive oils! This is a diet that doesn’t have to be bland, and can be full of flavors that make it easier to live a healthy lifestyle!

Photo by Special*Dark

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This post was written by:

Rochelle - who has written 324 posts on Made in Kitchen Blog.


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