<p>The Mediterranean diet, which includes vegetables, fish, fruits and nuts, may reduce the risk of death in patients with a history of cardiovascular disease, a new study has claimed.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"The Mediterranean diet is widely recognised as one of the healthier nutrition habits in the world," said Giovanni de Gaetano from IRCCS Neuromed Institute in Italy.<br /><br />"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," said de Gaetano.<br /><br />According to him, Mediterranean diet is also optimal for people who have already suffered from cardiovascular disease.<br /><br />Researchers studied 1,197 patients with a history of cardiovascular disease, such as coronary artery disease and stroke.<br /><br />Food intake was recorded using the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) food frequency questionnaire.<br /><br />Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was appraised with a 9-point Mediterranean diet score (MDS).<br />During a median follow up of 7.3 years there were 208 deaths.<br /><br />A 2-point increase in the MDS was associated with a 21 per cent reduced risk of death after controlling for age, sex, energy intake, egg and potato intake, education, leisure-time physical activity, waist to hip ratio, smoking, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, diabetes and cancer at baseline.<br /><br />When considered as a 3-level categorical variable, the top category (score 6-9) of adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with 37 per cent lower risk of death compared to the bottom category (0-3).<br /><br />"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," said de Gaetano.<br /><br />"The major contributors to mortality risk reduction were a higher consumption of vegetables, fish, fruits, nuts and monounsaturated fatty acids - that means olive oil," said Marialaura Bonaccio from IRCCS Neuromed Institute.</p>
<p>The Mediterranean diet, which includes vegetables, fish, fruits and nuts, may reduce the risk of death in patients with a history of cardiovascular disease, a new study has claimed.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"The Mediterranean diet is widely recognised as one of the healthier nutrition habits in the world," said Giovanni de Gaetano from IRCCS Neuromed Institute in Italy.<br /><br />"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," said de Gaetano.<br /><br />According to him, Mediterranean diet is also optimal for people who have already suffered from cardiovascular disease.<br /><br />Researchers studied 1,197 patients with a history of cardiovascular disease, such as coronary artery disease and stroke.<br /><br />Food intake was recorded using the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) food frequency questionnaire.<br /><br />Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was appraised with a 9-point Mediterranean diet score (MDS).<br />During a median follow up of 7.3 years there were 208 deaths.<br /><br />A 2-point increase in the MDS was associated with a 21 per cent reduced risk of death after controlling for age, sex, energy intake, egg and potato intake, education, leisure-time physical activity, waist to hip ratio, smoking, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, diabetes and cancer at baseline.<br /><br />When considered as a 3-level categorical variable, the top category (score 6-9) of adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with 37 per cent lower risk of death compared to the bottom category (0-3).<br /><br />"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," said de Gaetano.<br /><br />"The major contributors to mortality risk reduction were a higher consumption of vegetables, fish, fruits, nuts and monounsaturated fatty acids - that means olive oil," said Marialaura Bonaccio from IRCCS Neuromed Institute.</p>