A Mediterranean Diet Promotes a Healthier Heart
by Evan Mestman, MS, RD, CDE, CDN

It's been said that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Whether that's true or not, it seems that the way to a man's — or a woman's — healthier heart is, indeed, through the stomach.

A study suggests that if you follow the so-called Mediterranean diet, you may be able to significantly reduce the risk of heart disease and the chances of a repeat heart attack. All it takes is a little bit of wine, lots of fruits and vegetables, legumes, cereals, whole grains, nuts, and fish — the staples of the Mediterranean diet.

The results are very positive. According to the Feb. 16, 1999, edition of Circulation, a survey of French people with heart disease who followed the Mediterranean diet had only a third of the number of repeat heart attacks as those French people who followed a Western diet.

Now, here are some foods from the Mediterranean diet that are an essential part of a heart-healthy diet:

• Grains — Keep a focus on whole grains, such as rice, pasta, couscous, and whole grain breads, which are the foundation of the Mediterranean diet. Add them to each meal and include them at snack time.
  
  
• Olive Oil — Use olive oil for all your cooking. Olives are a great source of monounsaturated fats, which can help lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, or "bad" cholesterol, but do not affect levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good" cholesterol.
  
  
• Fish — Eat fish to get Omega-3, a heart-healthy fat. Omega-3 fats are high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, which help protect against blood clotting and also can lower triglycerides, which can be unhealthy at high levels. Omega-3 is found in mackerel, salmon, tuna, and sardines, and, in smaller amounts, in canola, soy, and evening primrose. Eat fish at least once a week to help lower your risk of heart attacks.
  
  
• Cheese — Don't shy away from cheese; just consume small amounts for flavor. Although cheese has a lot of saturated fat, a little cheese added to foods tastes great and adds enjoyment to meals.
  
  
• Beans — Eat a hill of beans. Beans and lentils contain fiber, which helps fill you up, as well as lowering blood cholesterol levels. Meantime, phytonutrients — beneficial chemicals found in plants and beans — add more power to the punch with antioxidants that protect the immune system.
  
  
• Vegetables — Fill half your plate with vegetables at lunch and dinner. The Mediterranean diet features twice the amount of fruits and vegetables as the typical American diet. The extra helpings of vegetables means you'll be forced to ingest less calories from meat and dairy products, while getting higher vitamin and mineral content and less saturated fat.
  
  
• Nuts — Go nuts over nuts! Add certain nuts and seeds to your meals to get the right type of fat in your diet. Nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, Brazil nuts, and hazelnuts) and seeds (sesame, sunflower, and flax) give you another source of monounsaturated fat as well as minerals that help keep blood pressure in check. They also make a great snack. And though nuts and seeds have a high level of fat, it's not how much fat you ingest, but rather the type of fat that is a stronger predictor of heart disease. A recent study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association supported the consumption of nuts, specifically pecans, to help lower LDL cholesterol while actually increasing fat intake.
  
  
• Wine — And to wash all that good food down, how about a glass or two of wine. Drinking wine can help combat atherosclerosis, a disease that results in narrowed arteries and decreased blood flow. If you're not a wine drinker, you can also have some purple-yes, it has to be purple—grape juice, which has recently been found to have the same health benefits as wine.

So, not only is the Mediterranean diet beneficial to those seeking a heart-healthy diet, but it can also help anyone who wants to be healthier. So, if you're getting hungry just about now, grab some veggies or some nuts, and sit back and picture yourself in a café on the Left Bank.

Evan Mestman is a registered dietician at cyfit.com.

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