Two studies published in two different journals, “BMC Medicine” and “Heart”, show the benefits of the Mediterranean diet in two different diseases but which scientists believe are more closely related: dementia and cardiovascular disease.
The magazine “Heart” publishes a review of studies carried out on more than 700,000 women and concludes that those women who faithfully follow a Mediterranean diet have approximately a 25% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and death. This effect is greater than that found in other works, many of which included a majority of men and did not differentiate the results by sex.
The findings prompt researchers to call for more gender-specific research to guide clinical practice in heart health, a plea that also makes Dolores Corella, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Valencia, for whom the study does not provide great news regarding the effects of the Mediterranean diet. “The study seems interesting to me because it highlights the need to carry out more studies separately in men and women,” this researcher from the CIBER Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN) told the Science Media Center.
Cardiovascular diseases account for more than a third of all female deaths worldwide. While a healthy diet is a key element of prevention, the most relevant clinical trials have included relatively few women or have not reported results by gender, the researchers say.
Starting from 190 relevant studies, the researchers included 16 published between 2003 and 2021 in their pooled data analysis. The studies, which were carried out mainly in the US and Europe, involved more than 700,000 women.
However, the researchers acknowledge several limitations to their findings, including that all of the studies analyzed were observational and relied on self-reported food frequency questionnaires. And the adjustments for potentially influential factors varied between the included studies.
A meta-analysis, explains Corella, means “that they have not carried out any new study, but rather have analyzed the data from previously published studies. Methodologically, as a meta-analysis, it is a correct study, but the main limitation of meta-analyses is that they have to analyze the results of original studies carried out previously by other researchers”.
But the Antioxidant and Gut Microbiome Effects of the Mediterranean Diet on Inflammation and Cardiovascular Risk Factors are among the possible explanations for the observed associations, the researchers say.
And the various components of the diet, such as polyphenols, nitrates, omega-3 fatty acids, increased fiber intake, and reduced glycemic load, may separately contribute to an improved cardiovascular risk profile, they suggest. .
whole grains
Vegetables
fruits
Legumes
Nuts
Extra virgin olive oil
Fish/seafood in moderation
A glass of wine a day
Occasionally red/processed meat, dairy, animal fat, and processed foods.
It is precisely the antioxidant effect of the Mediterranean diet that may be the cause of the effect of this type of diet on dementia, indicates the other work published in “BMC Medicine” which suggests that this diet is associated with a lower risk of dementia.
People with a higher adherence to a Mediterranean diet had up to 23% lower risk of dementia compared to those who had a lower adherence to a Mediterranean diet, says this work from the University of Newcastle (United Kingdom).
Diet may be an important modifiable risk factor for dementia that could be used to prevent the disease and reduce its risk, the experts conclude.