Mediterranean diet

The Cretan diet, often also called Mediterranean diet, is a nutritional form that is inspired by the traditional cuisine in the various Mediterranean countries, which is often colloquially referred to as Mediterranean cuisine; but it is not identical with the latter. The diet in these countries is considered to be very healthy, as several studies have emerged in recent decades that the inhabitants of the Mediterranean regions rarely suffer from cardiovascular disease and watching the people on the island of Crete has a life expectancy in excess of the European average have.

However, the published as Mediterranean diet dietary recommendations do not correspond to the actual everyday food in countries like Italy, Spain and Greece, and also not the usual today in Crete. The term is primarily a marketing term by authors or a keyword for a particular diet.

"It is likely did the 16 countries bordering on the Mediterranean, with seeking a range of different races, climates, and products, can enjoy as much unhealthy food as the rest of the world, and the myth of an universal, simple, beneficial diet [ ... ] is a salutary ideal rather than a reality. "

"It is to be assumed that in the 16 countries bordering the Mediterranean, with its range of different ethnicities, climates and products, eat as unhealthy, as in the rest of the world, and the myth of a universal, simple, healthy diet [ ... ] is more of a health ideal as a reality "

Diet principles

Published by the term Cretan diet or Mediterranean diet dietary recommendations are a special selection of foods that are eaten in the Mediterranean regularly. The focus is on vegetables, salad, fruit, fish, garlic, little red meat, the use of olive oil and a daily maximum of one glass of red wine. However, the preparation recommendations are very different from the traditional Mediterranean cuisine, in principle, be used plenty of fat for frying and deep-fried food is eaten frequently. Average consumed every inhabitant of Crete 31 liters of olive oil per year. Actually only in coastal areas and on islands dominated the consumption of fish and seafood; it is also consumed significantly more wine.

There are variations of the Mediterranean Diet, which are specifically advertised as a reducing diet, basically it is, however, a balanced diet, which is designed as a permanent diet. Without adequate calorie reduction is of this diet no weight loss to be expected.

Studies

The first study, which was evidence of a particularly healthy lifestyle in Crete, was the so-called "Seven Countries Study " by Ancel Keys in the 1950s and 1960s, a period of 15 years. The incidence of vascular disease and cancer has been studied in several countries. The lowest incidence rate, there was at that time in Crete, as well as the life expectancy of people was significantly higher. There were hardly any cases of atherosclerosis and significantly fewer heart attacks than average. According to WHO, nearly 40 times more people died in the 1980s in the U.S. from diseases of the coronary vessels than on Crete. Based on these results, scientists came to the conclusion that the diet alone is decisive, which therefore became the focus of attention. Especially the olive oil used plenty of health-promoting effect was attributed, as it does not increase blood cholesterol.

As further evidence of the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, the Lyon Diet Heart Study is often cited in the 1990s, divided in heart attack patients into two groups and were followed for four years; one of them fed on by the Cretan diet. As a result, it was determined that the " Crete - group " suffered less reinfarction and cardiovascular risk was lower by 50 percent. However, this study also revealed that this diet does not work as expected cholesterol influenced, not even the blood pressure and body mass index. Most often is not mentioned that in this study, the olive oil was partially replaced by rapeseed oil, which is not used in Mediterranean cuisine. Rapeseed oil has a very different composition than olive oil and contains significantly more alpha -linolenic acid.

In 2003, researchers published the University of Athens ( Antonia Trichopoulou, etc.) results in the current dietary habits in Greece and other countries were related to mortality and heart disease. It was found that distinct Mediterranean diet prolongs life expectancy, specifically for a 60 - year-old man statistically by one year. According to an American study, the result of which was published in 2006, this diet also significantly reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Rarely is pointed out in publications that the Greek study indeed showed a survival benefit of the Mediterranean diet for Greece and Spain, but not for people in Germany and the Netherlands, where they subsisted under this food form. On the contrary, German followers of this diet died statistically even earlier. Of this result is not detailed in the study.

A further confirmation of the Mediterranean diet, there were 2013 with a study in which it was shown that the rate of major cardiovascular events was reduced by 30 percent.

Review and Critique

The Mediterranean diet is considered balanced diet and is suitable as a permanent diet. Publications in German-speaking call as part often whole grain products but not play a significant role in the Mediterranean countries, de facto, if it be eaten at all.

According to the findings of gerontology, life expectancy depends on several factors and can not be controlled by diet alone. The recommendations of the diet based on the eating habits of hard-working miners in Crete in the 1950s and 1960s, whose conditions differ significantly from the current living situation of most people in industrialized nations. Meanwhile, one in three young people is also on Crete overweight due to excessive calorie intake with too little exercise in clerical occupations. A lower rate of lifestyle diseases can not be necessarily attributed solely to the diet.

The traditional diet of Crete is very rich in fat. However, " not every other European nation is genetically adapted to such a huge fat consumption - which can be detected on different chromosomes. Comparative food under scientific control showed that the blood fat after a meal to normal much faster at Cretans than Northern Europeans. They would rather be feared heart disease in a similarly high olive oil consumption. "

It is not often pointed out that due to the study results, only correlations are established between the health status of the participants and their eating habits, which should not be confused with a causal evidence. It in fact involves only theories, and they were changed in the case of the Cretan diet several times. One assumption is that the oil of the Cretan olive ( Coroneiki ) is particularly healthy because it contains a higher percentage of vitamins and enzymes. But this also means that other types of olive oil did not have the same health-promoting effect.