To investigate, the researchers
assigned 212 men and women at moderate risk for heart disease to
eat a Mediterranean diet or a standard low-fat diet for three
months. Participants on the Mediterranean diet were instructed to
eat fish four times a week and red meat only once a week. Men
were allowed two glasses of red wine daily, while women were
limited to one.
Recommendations foe people on
the low-fat diet were to eat poultry rather than beef, pork and
other mammal meats; eat fish two or three times a week; stay away
from animal products rich in saturated fat; and ear fruit and
vegetables, low-fat dairy products and vegetable oil.
While study participants did not
follow all diet recommendations, the researchers found, eating
habits did change in both groups. Study participants took in fewer
calories and consumed more proteins and carbohydrates and less
total fat and saturated fat. Both groups showed a small but
significant drop in body mass index. Among people on the
Mediterranean diet, total cholesterol dropped by 7.5 percent and
it fell by 4.5 percent in the low-fat diet group.
Based on this reduction, the
researchers write, overall cardiovascular risk fell 15 percent
with the Mediterranean diet and nine percent with the low fat
diet.
"Both diets significantly
reduced cardiovascular disease risk factors to an overall
comparable extent", the researchers conclude.