That Happened!

New York - To help fight against the risk of metabolic syndrome and heart disease a researchers are saying that a Meditteranean diet that includes nuts is the best way to go. Metabolic syndome consists of many health issues that contribute to heart disease.

This new study was done in Spain with about 1,200 volunteers ages 55 to 80, which included about one third that already had metabolic syndrome. The study was based on the diets of these volunteers. The researchers had the volunteers try out diets that would help reduce the risk of heart disease to determine which one worked the best.

The participants were split into three different groups. One group was put on the Medditeranean diet that included a daily serving of nuts, one was put on the same diet except replaced the nuts with extra servings of olive oil, and the other group was put on a different diet altogether.

The results showed that those volunteers who were on the Meditteranean diet with about 30 grams of nuts had decreased their risk of heart disease and 13.7 percent of them got rid of their metabolic sydrome completely. Only 6.7 percent of the volunteers had this result while on the Meditteranean diet with olive oil.

The Meditteranean diet consists of fruits, vegetables, cereal, olive oil, fish, alcohol, meats, dairy and sweets. Some of these food items are of a lower amount than the others. Everything is proportioned in this diet.

The study took place over a one year period and during this time there were not any changes in the participants weight. But those who had a high waist circumference and high triglycerides or blood pressure saw those numbers drop during the study which may suggest that this diet improves specific areas of the metabolic syndrome.

The researchers said that because the study was done on older people that were at a higher risk for heart disease to begin with, the study could not be applied to the public in general. There have been few studies that actually looked at the effects of the Meditteranean diet but the studies that have been show a lot of promise in the ability of this diet to lower the risk of heart disease and metabolic syndrome.

Many people who are at risk for heart disease find it difficult to find the right foods to eat to lower their risk. With the Meditteranean diet they can gain that insight on the right foods to consume.