网上疯转的健康饮食方式 或许并不适合你
There's Actually a Huge Limitation to The Mediterranean Diet If you've spent any amount of time reading up on healthy foods that can offer significant boosts to your physiological and mental well-being, you're almost sure to have come across the Mediterranean diet. This famous (and yummy) mix of vegetables, fruit, fish, and whole grains – served with a liberal splash of olive oil – is common in cultures around the Mediterranean Sea, and has long been recognised for its broad nutritional benefits. But now, scientists have discovered a significant caveat to the health advantages that the Mediterranean diet provides – and it's one that seems to strictly limit just who can snare the benefits of the regimen. A new study by Italian researchers analysed adherence to the Mediterranean diet in almost 19,000 people who took part in a health study called the Moli-sani Project, and found that the cardiovascular benefits of the diet basically only extended to people who were well off or highly educated. "In other words, a person from low socioeconomic status who struggles to follow a Mediterranean model, is unlikely to get the same advantages of a person with higher income, despite the fact that they both similarly adhere to the same healthy diet." The researchers tracked participants in the Moli-sani Project for an average of four years, and found that adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with an approximate 60 percent reduction in risk of cardiovascular disease – but only for those who had education beyond high school or a household income greater €40,000 annually. People in the study with lower education or incomes demonstrated no cardiovascular benefits to following the Mediterranean diet. The team found that while participants overall consumed the same amount of 'Mediterranean diet' food – the breakdown of what they ate differed depending on their socioeconomic circumstances, as did the quality of individual ingredients. High socioeconomic participants consumed more fish within the diet, along with more organic products and whole grain foods – meaning their diets were richer in terms of antioxidants and polyphenols, and also offered greater diversity in fruit and vegetable choice. But until we know more, other scientists are saying that we shouldn't write off the Mediterranean diet just yet – as there could be a whole host of variables to explain the outcome here. "Although the authors of this study suggest that the Mediterranean diet may be less effective in reducing heart disease in less well-off people, this is likely to be due to other differences between low and high income groups, rather than the diet not being effective," explains cardiovascular medicine researcher Tim Chico from the University of Sheffield, who wasn't involved with the study. |