The Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan - Successful On Metabolic Syndrome

by Alba

Hi dear readers,

As you may probably know, my favorite diet that I love to follow is the Mediterranean diet. What I found today in my e-mail box was the latest meta-analysis study carried out to determine the role of Mediterranean diet on metabolic syndrome.

For your information, metabolic syndrome is the name given to certain risk factors, which are correlated to overweight and obesity (according to National Institute of Health), and contribute to heart disease, diabetes and stroke.

There are 5 risk factors, including:

1. Large waistline - referred to "abdominal obesity".

2. Increased levels of Triglycerides (TG).

3. Lower levels of HDL cholesterol.

4. High blood pressure.

5. High blood sugar levels.

The Mediterranean diet was shown to positively affect all these risk factors. Therefore, in 35 trials, waistline was shown to be reduced with 42 cm; HDL was increased by 1.17mg/dl, TG were reduced by 6.14mg/dl and blood sugar were reduced by 3.89mg/dl; systolic blood pressure was reduced by 2.35mmHg, while diastolic blood pressure by 1.58mmHg.

Christina-Maria Kastorini (Harokopio University, Athens, Greece) and colleagues in the March 15, 2011 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology was expressed very positive to this diet, emphasizing the high public-health importance of these studies' results as "this dietary pattern can be easily adopted by all population groups and various cultures and cost-effectively serve for the primary and secondary prevention of the metabolic syndrome and its individual components".

At the end, I wish you an enjoyable Mediterranean meal plan with plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole-grain cereals, monounsaturated fatty acids, and low-fat dairy products, fish, poultry, nuts, legumes, and a low consumption of red meat.

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