Mediterranean diet associated with reduction in women’s deaths from heart attack and stroke

Close on the heels of the publication of a study in the AMA journal Archives of Neurology linking the consumption of a Mediterranean diet to a lower risk of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease, an article published online on February 17, 2009 in the American Heart Association journal Circulation reports an association between greater adherence to a Mediterranean diet and a reduction in deaths from coronary heart disease and stroke in women.

Teresa T. Fung of Simmons College in Boston along with colleagues at Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital evaluated data from 74,886 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study for the current analysis. Dietary questionnaires administered six times during the follow-up period were scored for adherence to the Mediterranean diet, which is characterized by a high intake of vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, legumes, fish, and monounsaturated fat, a low intake of saturated fat, red and processed meats, and moderate alcohol consumption (between 5 and 15 grams per day). Continue Reading