In a new study out of Spain, researchers have concluded that a diet rich in healthy fats is better for your heart than one that is low in fat. They especially noted that the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in healthy fats that are derived from food sources such as olives and nuts, beat out other low-fat diet plans. The Mediterranean diet came out winning, offering older adults a great means of improving their cholesterol levels, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure.
The study, which was published in the journal the Annals of Internal Medicine, noted that the Mediterranean diet beat the low-fat diet when it came to maintaining heart health, despite its relatively high amount of fat from natural vegetable sources. In previous studies, researchers have found that people who live in the Mediterranean region experience lower rates of heart disease, even though they have a high amount of fat in their diet.
The study involved 769 men and women who were 55 to 80 years of age. The participants had Type 2 diabetes or other risk factors for stroke and/or heart disease, including being overweight, smokers, or having high blood pressure.
Over the course of three months, the participants ate one of three diets, 1) low-fat that lowered all types of fat in the diet, 2) Mediterranean focusing on olive oil as the primary fat source, and 3) Mediterranean focusing on almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts as the primary fat source.
When the study concluded, the researchers found that the participants on either of the Mediterranean diets showed an overall improvement in their blood sugar levels and blood pressure, as well as improvements in their HDL cholesterol levels (the good cholesterol). However, the participants in the low-fat group showed no change in their health.
So why was this? Well, researchers in the study believe that the healthy, unsaturated fats derived from nuts and olive oil that are used in the typical Mediterranean diet actually help to protect a person’s cardiovascular system.
One major player in the Mediterranean diet is virgin olive oil. This monounsaturated fat is minimally processed when it is produced, so it holds onto the fruit’s natural antioxidants. The oil also retains other nutrients, which may help prevent inflammation from occurring in a person’s blood vessels. Plus, the nuts found in this particular diet also contain unsaturated fats that the researchers noted as having heart-protective properties.
During the study, the researchers found that it didn’t matter if the participants ate healthy fat that was derived from either olives or nuts, so long as these healthy varieties were included in their diet.
Individuals in the study who were assigned to eating a Mediterranean diet that was full of these healthy fats showed a marked improvement in their blood sugar levels, cholesterol, and blood pressure, as opposed to the individuals in the low-fat diet group.
The researchers noted that the Mediterranean diet moved people in the right heart-healthy direction, but that ongoing studies would be needed in order to determine if the benefits would result in fewer strokes and incidences of heart attack.
The study did not note whether healthy fats from olives or nuts were better, but you can certainly incorporate both into your diet by replacing unhealthy animal fats with these delicious Mediterranean alternatives.
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