Readers and patients often ask me…. What should I eat to be healthy? “What can I do to prevent disease” or “what can I do to prevent my disease from coming back”? What supplement or herbal or vitamin is the “best”? Well, truth be told…you can do yourself 100% more good by getting the basics down……a really really good diet. And what might that be?
You’re probably reading this page because you want to take charge and limit your risk of getting some God-awful disease like cancer or heart disease or have already experienced it and want to do everything you can to reduce your risk of cancer recurrence or a second heart attack. If you’re one of the lucky few that that have figured out health is your greatest currency, maybe you’re thinking about a great diet plan BEFORE any ugliness and disease comes into your life.
This is really VERY simple! For eons we have wondered why certain countries and people have lower risk of cancer and other chronic debilitating diseases. European studies have long suggested that it has a lot to do with diet. In other words, “you are what you eat!”
There is now a lot of medical evidence that suggests there is such as thing as the “healthiest diet in the world”. Multiple research studies, European and American both, are now joining in their conclusion that the closer you follow this diet the longer you will live! Wondering what it is?….it’s simply the Mediterranean Diet. Simple?
You may be asking, what exactly is the Mediterranean Diet? After all, there are a lot of countries in that European region. Which parts of what diet make up the healthy parts of this diet? Well, you can go down to the bookstore and try to find a book which might contain all of the background and recipes you need, or you can spend lots of personal time searching the internet. But why waste time? IF you read further , and you should, you will find all the information you ever needed at your fingertips.
IMPORTANT: It would be unethical to suggest that diet alone is all you need to prevent heart attack, stroke, cancer or a recurrence. BUT, there is great medical evidence that it helps a LOT. Just look at the medical evidence quoted below…. There are many more where that came from…..
Here are just a few of the many published studies directly quoted from the medical journal “abstracts” in the National Library of Medicine.
Circulation. 2009 Mar 3;119(8):1093-100. Epub 2009 Feb 16.
Mediterranean diet and incidence of and mortality from coronary heart disease and stroke in women.
Department of Nutrition, Simmons College, Boston, MA 02115, USA. fung@simmons.edu
BACKGROUND: Several studies have documented an inverse association between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), but few data are available on the relationship between Mediterranean diet and risk of stroke. METHODS AND RESULTS: For the present study, 74,886 women 38 to 63 years of age in the Nurses’ Health Study, a cohort study of female nurses, without a history of cardiovascular disease and diabetes were followed up from 1984 to 2004. We computed an Alternate Mediterranean Diet Score from self-reported dietary data collected through validated food frequency questionnaires administered 6 times between 1984 and 2002. Relative risks for incident CHD, stroke, and combined fatal cardiovascular disease were estimated with Cox proportional-hazards models adjusted for cardiovascular risk factors. During 20 years of follow-up, 2391 incident cases of CHD, 1763 incident cases of stroke, and 1077 cardiovascular disease deaths (fatal CHD and strokes combined) were ascertained. Women in the top Alternate Mediterranean Diet Score quintile were at lower risk for both CHD and stroke compared with those in the bottom quintile (relative risk [RR], 0.71; 95% CI, 0.62 to 0.82; P for trend<0.0001 for CHD; RR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.73 to 1.02; P for trend=0.03 for stroke). Cardiovascular disease mortality was significantly lower among women in the top quintile of the Alternate Mediterranean Diet Score (RR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.49 to 0.76; P for trend<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: A greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet, as reflected by a higher Alternate Mediterranean Diet Score, was associated with a lower risk of incident CHD and stroke in women.
Public Health Nutr. 2006 Dec;9(8A):1077-82.
Diet and cancer risk in Mediterranean countries: open issues.
Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche, Mario Negri, Milano, Italy.
OBJECTIVE: To analyse various aspects of the Mediterranean diet in relation to the risk of several common cancers in Italy. DESIGN: Data from a series of case-control studies conducted in northern Italy between 1983 and 2004 on over 20,000 cases of several major cancers and 18,000 controls. RESULTS: For most digestive tract cancers, the risk decreased with increasing vegetable and fruit consumption, with relative risks between 0.3 and 0.7 for the highest level of intake, and the population-attributable risks for low intake of vegetables and fruit ranged between 15 and 40%. Less strong inverse relations were observed for other (epithelial) cancers, too. A number of micronutrients contained in vegetables and fruit showed an inverse relation with cancer risk. In particular, flavones, flavonols and resveratrol were inversely related to breast cancer risk. Olive oil, which is a typical aspect of the Mediterranean diet, has also been inversely related to cancers of the colorectum and breast, and mainly of the upper digestive and respiratory tract. Consumption of pizza, one of the most typical Italian foods, was related to a reduced risk of digestive tract cancers, although pizza may simply be an aspecific indicator of the Italian diet. CONCLUSIONS: Adherence to the Mediterranean diet is a favourable indicator of the risk of several common epithelial cancers in Italy. A score summarising the major characteristics of the Mediterranean diet was related to a priori defined reduced risks of several digestive tract neoplasms by over 50%.
Arch Intern Med. 2007 Dec 10;167(22):2461-8.
Mediterranean Dietary Pattern and Prediction of All-Cause Mortality in a US Population: Results From the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study.
Mitrou PN, Kipnis V, Thiébaut AC, Reedy J, Subar AF, Wirfält E, Flood A, Mouw T, Hollenbeck AR, Leitzmann MF, Schatzkin A.
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB1 8RN, England.
BACKGROUND: The Mediterranean diet has been suggested to play a beneficial role for health and longevity. However, to our knowledge, no prospective US study has investigated the Mediterranean dietary pattern in relation to mortality. METHODS: Study participants included 214 284 men and 166 012 women in the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-AARP (formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons) Diet and Health Study. During follow-up for all-cause mortality (1995-2005), 27 799 deaths were documented. In the first 5 years of follow-up, 5985 cancer deaths and 3451 cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths were reported. We used a 9-point score to assess conformity with the Mediterranean dietary pattern (components included vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts, whole grains, fish, monounsaturated fat-saturated fat ratio, alcohol, and meat). We calculated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using age- and multivariate-adjusted Cox models. RESULTS: The Mediterranean diet was associated with reduced all-cause and cause-specific mortality. In men, the multivariate HRs comparing high to low conformity for all-cause, CVD, and cancer mortality were 0.79 (95% CI, 0.76-0.83), 0.78 (95% CI, 0.69-0.87), and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.76-0.91), respectively. In women, an inverse association was seen with high conformity with this pattern: decreased risks that ranged from 12% for cancer mortality to 20% for all-cause mortality (P = .04 and P < .001, respectively, for the trend). When we restricted our analyses to never smokers, associations were virtually unchanged. CONCLUSION: These results provide strong evidence for a beneficial effect of higher conformity with the Mediterranean dietary pattern on risk of death from all causes, including deaths due to CVD and cancer, in a US population.
If you’re inclined to learn more……here’s an e-book which spells out a simple dietary strategy that can make ALL the difference to you. Regardless of advances in treatment, it is crystal clear that environment, especially diet, is a major factor in preventing disease. There is ALSO medical evidence that exercise and diet modifications can reduce recurrence risk or at least delay it substantially.
Even better, the author grants a full EIGHT weeks to review and try the diet and recipes contained in this book. If not fully satisfied, the publisher will refund 100% of your purchase price. Again, a no-brainer….
This is really a great little e-book offering but check out all the bonuses that come with this e-book too! For example, you get a Copy of Mediterranean Diet recipes for FREE included, A FREE vitamin dictionary, A comparative analysis of other diets and some fad diets you would already know, FREE Weight Charts (for Men & for Women), a helpful and concise tips section all included along with the diet, and really quite a bit more…
Click Here for Immediate Access !
You have nothing to lose and a LOT to gain. Learn about the Mediterranean Diet using this e-book which you can download immediately. No waiting and great reading!
Here is what some readers are saying about all of the health benefits of this information packed e-book and how it helped them. Most of this is related to overall health benefits and weight loss, but you get the idea……
“Neat ebook! I wasn’t expecting all the recipes as well. This has made it pretty easy for me to carry this out. I have already lost quite a bit. But my friends might read this, so I won’t say how much. What I like about this Med. diet is I don’t have to feel hungry! If you have a newsletter, will you put me on the list please.”
Michael Cohen – Chicago, USA
“Hope you get this. This is the first diet I have been on where I am not getting hungry all the time. I have tried the exercise part slowly as you said, and it works. I have lost 13 pounds in 4 weeks. But the part I like, is that I feel good all the time. Even my kids have commented on how much happier I am – thanks!”
Julie Sheldon – Seattle, USA
“Hi, I just bought your book. I haven’t had it long enough to say if it works or not, but I’m impressed with the research and comparisons to other diets, one comparison in particular. Anyway, I just thought I would let you know I am impressed. I am pleased I went with your ebook and not the other one I was looking at. Your book seems to cover so much ground!”
Samantha King – NY, US
“This is an impressive diet book – I wish I had found this earlier. I like it cause its thorough and the recipes are great fun. My boyfriend likes them too! We keep going to parties and things so I’ve only lost 7 pounds so far (3 weeks) but I ‘ve decided to exercise now too and try a little harder not to eat silly things when we go out.”
Rebecca Grey – London, UK
“This book makes so much sense! You were right to say that you will feel a lot better if you stay with a healthy diet. I am taking my time and my skin looks great. Better now than I can even remember. I don’t like exercise much but I feel so good on this diet that I constantly feel like getting out and about. I don’t seem to get as tired any more. I’ve lost 19 pounds but I’ve still got heaps to go! Some of my friends wanted your website address so I gave it to them. I’d like to give you my sincere thanks!”
Margaret Hamilton – LA, USA
[rating:4.5]
