FOOD IN THE WORLD
x: welcome to today's "food in the world" program. well, we are going to talk about the
mediterranean diet. today we bring some specialists in mediterranean food. tell us a little bit
about the topic: what is the mediterranean diet?
x: The Mediterranean diet is a healthy way of eating that prioritizes the consumption of fresh
and natural foods, based on the flavors and traditions of the region, benefiting overall health,
as well as reducing the risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and degenerative diseases.
The Mediterranean diet prioritizes olive oil as the main source of fats, in addition to fruits,
vegetables, legumes, whole grains, seeds, nuts and fish, avoiding industrialized products
that are harmful to health, such as sausages, pastries, frozen and prefabricated foods.
This diet is really a type of diet that helps to change the lifestyle, and it is not always
necessary to be low in calories to help lose weight, as it naturally helps to improve
metabolism and promote weight control.
x: I think it is very interesting but I think I and all of us here need to know a little more about
the history of this diet, could you tell us about it?
x: The first scientific references to a Mediterranean diet date back to 1948, when an
epidemiologist studied the way of life of the inhabitants of the island of Crete and, among
other aspects, compared their diet with that of Greece and the USA. For his part, the
American physiologist Ancel Keys, who led a study on coronary heart disease, blood
cholesterol and lifestyle in seven countries after the Second World War, contributed to its
dissemination. Keys and his collaborators appreciated that the incidence of coronary heart
disease was lower in rural southern Europe and Japan. They suspected that there was a
protective factor in lifestyle. The subsequent dissemination of their results assimilated the
concept of "Mediterranean style" with that of "Mediterranean diet".
x: So far I feel very interesting and this is something that interests us all but it is also
important to know the properties that this food gives us, could you tell us something?
x: The health properties attributed to it are based on the finding that, although in
Mediterranean countries more fat is consumed than in the United States, the incidence of
cardiovascular diseases is much lower. The causes of these properties seem to lie in the
higher consumption of products rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, present in olive oil
(which reduces the level of cholesterol in the blood), the consumption of fish, especially oily
fish, rich in omega-3 fatty acids and, finally, the moderate consumption of red wine (for its
anthocyanins and resveratrol). Wine is also associated with another cardioprotective effect
known as the French paradox.
Stilbene polyphenols, found in grape skins and concentrated in red wine, and lignans,
present in olives, virgin olive oil, flaxseeds, sesame seeds and whole grains, are associated
with protective effects against mortality.
It appears that the Mediterranean diet is associated with a lower risk of mild cognitive
impairment both during aging and during the transition from dementia or mild cognitive
impairment to Alzheimer's disease.
Adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with a lower rate of abdominal obesity,
which predicts the risk of diabetes, hypertension, heart attack or stroke. Adherence to the
