`Mediterranean Diet Again Named Best Overall - Olive Oil Times

Mediterranean Diet Again Named Best Overall

By Paolo DeAndreis
Jan. 7, 2022 08:16 UTC

U.S. News & World Report has named the Mediterranean diet the best over­all diet for the fifth year run­ning.

The panel of 27 sci­en­tists, physi­cians and nutri­tion­ists also con­firmed the Mediterranean eat­ing plan as the best plant-based diet, the best diet for healthy eat­ing and the most use­ful diet to com­bat and pre­vent heart dis­ease and dia­betes.

This style of eat­ing can play a big role in pre­vent­ing heart dis­ease and stroke and reduc­ing risk fac­tors such as obe­sity, dia­betes, high cho­les­terol and high blood pres­sure.- Authors, American Heart Association

The panel of experts con­cluded that the MedDiet stands out among the 40 most rel­e­vant and well-known diets, includ­ing DASH, MIND, veg­e­tar­ian, Nordic and Weight Watchers.

See Also:MedDiet May Help Protect Newborns from Leading Cause of Mortality, Study Suggests

The experts con­cluded that the MedDiet pro­vides a host of health ben­e­fits, includ­ing weight loss, heart and brain health, can­cer pre­ven­tion and dia­betes pre­ven­tion and con­trol.”

They added that peo­ple in Mediterranean coun­tries live longer and suf­fer fewer car­dio­vas­cu­lar dis­eases than most Americans par­tially due to the pop­u­lar­ity of the MedDiet and its unique qual­i­ties.

Still, the panel empha­sized that there is not a sin­gle Mediterranean diet.

Greeks eat dif­fer­ently from Italians, who eat dif­fer­ently from the French and the Spanish,” they wrote. But they share many of the same prin­ci­ples.”

Those prin­ci­ples have long been framed by the Boston non-profit orga­ni­za­tion Oldways.

In col­lab­o­ra­tion with experts from the World Health Organization and the Harvard School of Public Health, Oldways has cre­ated the MedDiet Pyramid, which graph­i­cally demon­strates the daily serv­ings of veg­eta­bles, fruits, herbs, whole grains, nuts and healthy fats, such as olive oil.

health-news-mediterranean-diet-again-named-best-overall-olive-oil-times

Oldways

The MedDiet also includes fatty fish or seafood with dairy and eggs twice a week. Poultry should be con­sumed occa­sion­ally, while serv­ings of red meats and sweets should be infre­quent.

According to the U.S News & World Report expert panel, the MedDiet is also among the most bal­anced diets since it pro­vides plenty of pro­tein, car­bo­hy­drates, fats and rel­e­vant micronu­tri­ents.

The DASH diet fin­ished in sec­ond place for the best over­all diet list­ings and was praised for its com­plete­ness, safety and role in sup­port­ing heart health and fight­ing dia­betes.

It shared the sec­ond spot with the Flexitarian Diet, which empha­sizes the con­sump­tion of fruits, veg­eta­bles and whole grains with an empha­sis on most plant-based pro­teins with some wig­gle room for the occa­sional burger or steak when the urge hits.”

I think it’s impor­tant to note that the top three diets… all offer vari­ety, flex­i­bil­ity and few, if any, rules,” Gretel Schueller, the man­ag­ing edi­tor of health for U.S. News & World Report, told CNN.

All the diets that per­form well are safe, sen­si­ble and backed by sound sci­ence,” she added. The diet win­ners also all pro­vide ade­quate calo­ries with a focus on veg­eta­bles, fruits and whole grains, a mod­est amount of lean pro­tein, dairy and an occa­sional treat.”

The American Heart Association (AHA) has also offi­cially rec­om­mended fol­low­ing the Mediterranean Diet.

This style of eat­ing can play a big role in pre­vent­ing heart dis­ease and stroke and reduc­ing risk fac­tors such as obe­sity, dia­betes, high cho­les­terol and high blood pres­sure,” the AHA said. There is some evi­dence that a Mediterranean diet rich in vir­gin olive oil may help the body remove excess cho­les­terol from arter­ies and keep blood ves­sels open.”

The AHA has also stressed how a healthy diet may also prove essen­tial to improve your abil­ity to think, remem­ber and process infor­ma­tion as you age.”

The AHA researchers also empha­sized how in one study, the health­i­est eaters at age 50 had a nearly 90-per­cent lower risk of demen­tia com­pared with those who had the least healthy diets. The Mediterranean and DASH diets have been proven to boost brain health as well as improve heart health.”



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