
What's behind Mediterranean diet and lower cardiovascular risk - dnetesn
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-12-explore-mediterranean-diet-cardiovascular.html
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andrewl
Researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia and the
University of Pennsylvania found that extra-virgin olive oil contains an anti-
inflammatory agent that acts similarly to how ibuprofen does. They named the
substance oleocanthal:

[https://www.monell.org/news/news_releases/olive_oil_contains...](https://www.monell.org/news/news_releases/olive_oil_contains_natural_anti_inflammatory_agent)

So a lot of people in the Mediterranean consume an anti-inflammatory as part
of their daily diet. I believe the thinking is that this is _part_ of the
lower cardiovascular risk, but not the only factor by any means.

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socratis
"The team also explored why and how a Mediterranean diet might mitigate risk
of heart disease and stroke by examining a panel of 40 biomarkers,
representing new and established biological contributors to heart disease. ...
The team saw changes in signals of

* inflammation (accounting for 29 percent of the cardiovascular disease risk reduction)

* glucose metabolism and insulin resistance (27.9 percent),

* and body max index (27.3 percent).

The team also found connections to blood pressure, various forms of
cholesterol, branch-chain amino acids and other biomarkers, but found that
these accounted for less of the association between Mediterranean diet and
risk reduction."

The _suggestion_ from the data being that inflammation and insulin resistance
might be more important factors than the usual cholesterol panel that people
tend to fixate on.

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alchemism
I have friends in Athens, whom I visit. I’ve observed that most of the time
they put their virgin olive oil on the food once it is done cooking. When
asked about it they claimed that the oil is ‘full of healthy things that turn
cancerous when burned.’

They rarely use extra-virgin to cook with, either.

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aero142
Extra virgin olive oil is the first press oil. It contains particulates that
have a very low smoke point. You should not be cooking with extra virgin olive
oil. Pure olive oil is a later hot press extraction and does not have the
particulates. It has a much higher smoke point. Im not convinced that US
stores are actually selling extra virgin olive oil anyway outside of specialty
shops. Olive oil is supposed to be fresh and should taste spicy at first.

~~~
linkregister
Your suspicion is substantiated [1]. Olive oil bought from U.S. producers will
have had substantially less opportunity for adulteration, as their processes
are certified by U.S. authorities (this is a mitigation and not a guarantee).

1\.
[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/1198...](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11988947/Italian-
companies-investigated-for-passing-off-ordinary-olive-oil-as-extra-
virgin.html)

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mrfusion
I’ve always wondered if Americans can follow the Mediterranean diet with all
the reports of our olive oil being conterfiets.

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daphneokeefe
Look for olive oil from California. It's really only olive oil.

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ndesaulniers
Yeah cause there's no way they'd fake that

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losteric
Exactly.

Domestic production is regulated and certified by the US government,
transported through short supply chains subject to auditing. Tampering with
food supplies is very difficult to execute and harshly punished when
inevitably detected. Food safety and consumer confidence are a high priority
for commercial and public interests... you have never worried about watered
down milk, you shouldn't worry about 100% domestic olive oil.

Compared to imported goods... foreign governments are trusted to do their job
before goods make their way through long and slow international supply chains.
Plenty of time for undetected tampering before goods make it to American
distributors. Tracking down diluted olive oil across an ocean is difficult,
the other side has plausible deniability, the risk/reward of the crime is much
better.

I'm not saying our oil is _better_ \- just trustworthy. You get what the label
says.

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yboris
Here's a simple trick to avoid cardiovascular risk: any diet that reduces the
amount of meat people consume. Overwhelming majority of Americans eat too much
meat (with respect to health), so any diet that has less meat in it will on
average improve their health. No surprise:
[https://nutritionfacts.org/2018/02/06/how-healthy-is-the-
med...](https://nutritionfacts.org/2018/02/06/how-healthy-is-the-
mediterranean-diet/)

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InGodsName
What if it's not diet.

I read somewhere that Silicy has higher life expectancy although it's poor
(probably worse healthcare) in comparison to North Italy.

Maybe it's not diet but the family values? Maybe being family focused
increases life expectancy despite having not superior diet.

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entity345
You are assuming that poorer means worse diet.

That is simply not true at all in relation to having a healthy diet, and the
opposite is perhaps true.

In many places the traditional diet is healthy. Then, when people become
richer they eat more, eat more meat, more fat, more sugar, more processed
food, etc., and obesity and cardiovascular diseases shoot up.

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vahji
As a poor person who's always been surrounded by poor people, you are wrong.

Poor and less educated people know nothing about nutrition and don't have the
money to buy good food.

When you don't have the money you are forced to fill up with cheap calories
like bread, rice, pasta, sugar, etc.

~~~
coldtea
> _Poor and less educated people know nothing about nutrition and don 't have
> the money to buy good food._

In societies with traditional agriculture and village culture, they don't have
to "know about nutrition". Their traditional recipes and ways of eating are
healthier, and cheaper.

That's not an absolute rule, but that's exactly the case with Mediterranean
diet for one.

> _When you don 't have the money you are forced to fill up with cheap
> calories like bread, rice, pasta, sugar, etc._

Some of which is fine. The healthier people in Japan eat a lot of rice, and
bread is mighty fine too, as are noodles etc.

Sugar and highly refined breads are recent inventions. They poor people in
Italy pre-70s would hardly have much sugar in their meals except from natural
sources (tomatoes etc, not refined). No fast-food and crappy supermarket tv-
diner style food either. People cooked religiously.

Also the poor masses in Italy etc were traditionally not destitute (e.g.
developing world-like). Just poor. They could still afford basic meals, and
had strong family support.

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bobthepanda
Could another factor be physical activity? The extent of many Americans'
physical activity is walking from the car to the entrance of a building; the
fad goal of 10,000 steps is fairly trivial to hit if you walk to work or use
transit on a regular basis.

Survey from NYC comparing exercise by primary modes of transportation:
[https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/epi/PAT-
survey...](https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/epi/PAT-survey-
summary.pdf)

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jorvi
I always feel apprehensive about ‘region X’s diet is the healthiest’ articles.
To me, the strongest example for this is the Japanese diet. Whilst their diet
_is_ healthy in many ways, it also raises your risk for stomach cancer by
quite a lot.

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blunte
I agree that I think that diet is one significant part of a (probably complex)
equation - not a single deciding factor.

But regarding Japanese stomach cancer... if you're saying they get stomach
cancer more than others because of their diet, how do they still live so long?
Do they also have a secret way of beating the cancer so it doesn't cut their
lives short?

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jorvi
For one they are aware they (as a population) get stomach cancer more often,
so they actively screen for it, in the way most countries in the West screen
for colon cancer.

Remember that some types of cancer, if caught early enough, are more akin to a
chronic condition than a delayed death sentence. Once treated there are
quarterly or bi-annual checkups and any suspicious tissue will be removed
preventatively. You still have a much higher chance of stomach cancer popping
up again vs. someone who never had it, but with the checkups it’ll be nipped
in the bud before it grows into something severe.

That might sound offhand but that is how it is for (as far as I’m aware)
bladder cancer and most gastrointestinal cancers. Cancer in the lungs, liver
or brain usually is much much more dangerous because there’s little screening
and they’re much more resistant to treatment.

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personjerry
Mediterranean countries also have some of the worst economies. Could this also
be related to diet? (I ask this as a legitimate question, not as an attack on
Mediterranean countries)

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muxator
Hardly.

It has more to do with gastronomical culture, I think. In Italy, for example,
eating quality food is _important_, it is something people care about and
actively look for.

This has a low correlation with social or economical status, is something
deeper, something that people learn to do since kids, looking at their
parent's behavior, going with them at the market and learning how to choose
good ingredients, spending time cooking.

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spacecity1971
Valter Longo’s research has a good explanatory framework for this effect. For
an introduction, The Longevity Diet (2016) is worth a read.

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whitepoplar
[deleted]

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qnsi
I think they don't mean people in Mediterranean, but people following
Mediterranean diet - frequently advised for heart health

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whitepoplar
[deleted]

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seveneightn9ne
This study looked at Americans following the Mediterranean diet.

