A Med diet is better for the heart than statins
Patients should go on Italian-style regime before being prescribed drugs, say experts
A MEDITERRANEAN diet could be better than statins at reducing the risk of an early death for millions of Britons, research suggests.
Leading heart experts said patients should be prescribed the diet – rich in fruit, vegetables, fish, nuts, whole grains and olive oil – before being put on drugs.
In the first major study to look at the impact of the Mediterranean diet on survival of heart patients, experts found it cut the chances of early death by 37 per cent.
Previous research has found that taking statins alone cuts mortality by 18 per cent. But experts said heart patients could obtain maximum benefit by doing both.
They said the results were so remarkable that the state should consider handing out free fruit and vegetables or subsidising them to encourage the public to change its eating habits.
Seven million people in Britain live with heart disease.
The “Med” diet is already known to have a powerful protective effect against various diseases, including diabetes and cancer.
Medical consultants hailed the findings, presented at the world’s biggest heart conference in Rome, as “extraordinary”, and said they showed the diet was “more powerful than any drug”.
A high consumption of vegetables had the greatest impact on survival, followed by oily fish intake, amount of fruit eaten and consumption of monounsaturated fat, found in olive oil.
Prof Giovanni de Gaetano, a leading expert in disease prevention in Italy, said: “We found that among those with a higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet, death from any cause was reduced by 37 per cent in comparison to those who poorly adhered to this dietary regime.”
The study tracked 1,200 Italians with heart disease over seven years.
Prof de Gaetano said: “The Mediterranean diet is widely recognised as one of the healthier nutrition habits in the world.
“In fact, many scientific studies have shown that a traditional Mediterranean lifestyle is associated with a lower risk of various chronic diseases and, more importantly, of death from any cause.
“But so far research has focused on the general population, which is mainly composed of healthy people. What happens to people who have already suffered from cardiovascular disease? Is the Mediterranean diet optimal for them too?” He said the research suggested exactly this, with the Med diet showing a “powerful” effect.
Doctors should “consider diet before drugs”, and the state should subsidise fruit and vegetables to encourage Britons towards healthier diets, he said.
“The National Health Service pays for drugs, but it doesn’t pay for veg-
etables,” he said. “The state should consider contributing towards those foods that make up the Mediterranean diet.”
While many patients might still need statins, they might be able to have a far lower dose, reducing the risk of sideeffects such as muscle pain. He urged doctors and patients to think far more about lifestyle.
As the study participants recorded their food intakes, their adherence to the “Med” diet was scored. In seven years, there were 208 deaths. After allowing for factors such as age, education, exercise, cholesterol levels and diabetes, a two-point rise out of nine in the Med diet score was linked with a 21 per cent lower risk of early death.
The strictest adherence to the Med diet was associated with a 37 per cent lower risk of death over the study period than the least strict.
Dr Marialaura Bonaccio, the lead author, said: “The major contributors to mortality risk reduction were a higher consumption of vegetables, fish, fruits, nuts and monounsaturated fatty acids – that means olive oil.”
Researchers said the next step would be to investigate why exactly the Mediterranean diet appears to reduce the risk of dying early. Prof de Gaetano said: “This was an observational study so we cannot say that the effect is causal.”
British experts said the “powerful anti-inflammatory effects” of foods such as olive oil, nuts and vegetables were likely to make the difference.
Dr Aseem Malhotra, a London cardiologist, said: “The results of this robust observational study are quite extraordinary. The Mediterranean diet is more powerful than any drug at reducing death rates in patients with cardiovascular disease.”
Prof Jeremy Pearson, of the British Heart Foundation, said: “This study suggests that even if you are already receiving medical care, if you add a Mediterranean diet, it will have further benefit.”