The Mediterranean diet not only tastes good, it comes with a lot of health benefits. Your doctor may encourage you to give it a try if you have or are at risk for heart disease. To be honest, it’s good for everyone for so many reasons. What parts of the diet could you incorporate into your routine?

Is The Mediterranean Diet Worth the Hype?

Mediterranean and vegetarian diets promote heart health in different ways.

Diagnosis Life summary:
The Mediterranean diet is often toted as being the best diet for heart health. Are there other diets that could be just as effective in decreasing your risk? A study in Circulation (https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.030088) compares a low-calorie vegetarian diet with the same calorie Mediterranean diet over 3 months. Both groups lost the same amount of weight. The main difference was in how each diet affected risk factors for heart disease. The vegetarian diet led to more pronounced decreases in LDL (“bad”) cholesterol while Mediterranean diet led to larger decreases in triglycerides. Both diets are, in different ways, heart healthy.

The Mediterranean diet acts as a mood booster.

Diagnosis Life summary:
The Mediterranean diet could help you manage depressive symptoms. A small study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqac106) looked at 72 young men between 18 and 25 who had depressive symptoms. They were treated with the Mediterranean diet (treatment group) or social support (control group) over 12 weeks. By the end of the study, those that started the Mediterranean diet had significant improvement in their symptoms and quality of life than their peers in the control group. The sample size for this study is small but it is encouraging to think that diet could be used as part of a treatment plan for depression.

The Mediterranean diet can promote the growth of a healthy gut biome.

Diagnosis Life summary:
The Mediterranean diet has always been popular but research now shows it may have to do with your gut. A study in the BMJ journal Gut (https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2019-319654) looked at the effect of the Mediterranean diet of more than 600 senior adults. Approximately half of them were put on the diet and the other half continued to eat their regular diet. The researchers assessed their gut biome before and after a 12-month trial. Not only was there a shift to healthier gut bacteria for those on the Mediterranean diet, but there was also a decrease in inflammatory markers (e.g., C-reactive protein, interleukin-17). These markers are known to impair cognition. Eating better may decrease your risk for frailty as you get older.

The Mediterranean diet could help delay Alzheimer’s disease.

Diagnosis Life summary:
If you’ve ever heard the phrase “brain food”, this might be where it came from. A study in Neurology (https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000012067) looked at dietary questionnaires and brain MRIs of 512 people, 169 with normal cognitive function and 343 at risk for Alzheimer’s disease (e.g., they had subjective or mild cognitive impairment or they had a family member with the disease). People who ate a more Mediterranean-like diet had fewer markers for Alzheimer’s disease in the brain (amyloid and tau proteins). They also had less atrophy and better cognitive function.

The Mediterranean diet lowers diabetes risk in women.

Diagnosis Life summary:
The Mediterranean diet is healthy but how healthy? Researchers at Brigham & Women’s Hospital tracked what women ate using food questionnaires. They published their study in JAMA Network Open (https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.25466), looking at more than 25,000 women. Over 20 years, 2,307 study participants developed diabetes. Specifically, those who ate a Mediterranean-style diet were 30% less likely to develop diabetes than those who didn’t. The trend held for all women with a BMI of 25 or more. Incorporating more fish, nuts, and olive oil into your diet may be just what the doctor ordered.

The Mediterranean may be better than a low fat diet for heart health.

A low fat diet has been traditionally recommended for people with heart disease but a Mediterranean diet may be better. A study in Lancet (https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(22)00122-2) assigned approximately 1,000 people with previously diagnosed heart disease (average age 60) to the Mediterranean diet or a low-fat diet over 7 years. All participants increased the amount of fiber in their diet. Overall, both diets performed well but the number of cardiac events was lower for those eating Mediterranean style.

The Mediterranean diet may slow prostate cancer.

Diagnosis Life summary:
Once you have cancer, is there any way to slow it down? When it comes to the prostate, the answer could be yes. A study in Cancer (https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.33182) looked at the diets of 410 men with early-stage prostate cancer. Specifically, they used a point scale to see how close their diets were to a Mediterranean diet. After 36 months of follow-up, 76 men had worsening of their disease. Those that had the highest Mediterranean diet scores were 32% less likely to see their disease progress than those who had the lowest scores. For every 1 point improvement on the diet point scale, risk decreased by 12% for all men but by as much as 36% for non-white men (17% of the study population). This is especially important because Black men who are at higher risk for prostate cancer in the first place.

The Mediterranean diet might curb symptoms of erectile dysfunction.

Diagnosis Life summary:
There has been a lot of data showing that the Mediterranean diet is good for the heart. It may be good for your sexual health too. A study in JAMA Network Open (https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.21701) looked at compliance with a Mediterranean diet in more than 21,000 men 40 and older. That means eating more vegetables, fruits, nuts, and fish and eating less meat and whole-fat dairy. The researchers found that men who more consistently ate the diet had lower rates of erectile dysfunction than those who did not, regardless of their age. Men younger than 60 years old saw a 22% decrease in erectile dysfunction, men between 60 and 60 saw an 18% decrease, and men older than 70 saw a 7% decrease.

Olive oil may help to prevent heart disease.

Diagnosis Life summary:
You’ve heard it before — the Mediterranean diet does a body good. Now there’s even more evidence. A study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2020.02.036) used questionnaires to track the dietary habits of approximately 93,000 health professionals over 24 years. During that time, 10.5% of them had a heart attack, stroke, or worse, death from cardiac disease. It turns out that olive oil, a staple in the Mediterranean diet, decreased the rate of those cardiac events. Half a tablespoon a day decreased the risk by as much as 14% when compared to people who only ingested that amount once a month. Consider swapping olive oil for butter when you can or use it in place of more caloric salad dressings. Your heart may thank you for it.

Red hot chili peppers may decrease your risk of heart attack and stroke.

Some like it hot. A study in Journal of the American College of Cardiology (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2019.09.068) looked at the dietary habits of more than 23,000 Italian adults. Specifically, they looked to see how many chili peppers, a popular part of the Mediterranean diet, they ate. People fell into one of four categories: those who never or rarely ate chili peppers, those who ate them up to 2 times per week, 2 to 4 times per week, or more than 4 times per week. Follow-up 8 years later found that those who ate chili peppers more often had a decreased risk for heart attack and stroke. Specifically, those who ate the most decreased their heart attack risk by 44%. Their stroke risk dropped by 61% when compared to those who ate the least. If you can take the heat, it may be a nice addition to your diet.