If you want a practical and proven method for reducing your chances of developing Alzheimer's disease and other diseases, look no further than the Mediterranean Diet. After a researcher discovered in 1980 that people in Greece and southern Italy lived longer and suffered less from diseases including Alzheimer's than people in other parts of the world, scientists began studying their diet and eating patterns. Today, health experts from nutritionists to neurologists recommend the diet for its preventative health benefits.
Features
The Mediterranean Diet is high in vegetables, fruit, beans and other legumes and grains, with moderate amounts of white meat and fish and low quantities of red meat, eggs and sweets.
Olive oil, an unsaturated fat, is used twice as much as animal fat in meals.
The Mediterranean Diet also includes low amounts of added salt, with herbs often replacing salt as flavoring, and small to medium amounts of red wine.
How It Helps the Brain
Scientific studies have shown that a Mediterranean diet can slow cognitive decline in older adults and help prevent the mild cognitive impairment that comes with normal aging from progressing into Alzheimer's disease, according to Mayo Clinic neuropsychologist Glenn Smith.
Smith said researchers are not certain how the diet may protect brain function but that they speculate that eating healthy foods improves cholesterol, blood sugar levels and blood vessel health, which may reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease.
Mediterranean Diet Pyramid
Nutritionists and other health experts developed a graphic, the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, based on the typical diet of people of the southern Mediterranean to make it easy to follow the diet.
At the top of the pyramid, representing the least consumed foods, are red meats. The diet calls for consuming only small quantities of red meat each month.
Sweets and eggs are consumed weekly, not daily, and poultry is consumed a few times a week.
Foods to be consumed daily are cheese and yogurt and olive oil, followed by vegetables, beans, nuts and other legumes. At the base of the pyramid are whole-grain breads, pasta, rice, couscous, polenta and potatoes.
The authors of the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid also recommend regular physical exercise and drinking six glasses of water a day and small amounts of red wine unless you risk becoming addicted to alcohol.
Pyramid Comparison
The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid differs from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Guide Pyramid. Both pyramids recommend a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and whole grains, but the Mediterranean Diet follows a traditional Greek diet, which contains little red meat and more frequent servings of fish. The USDA pyramid groups high-protein foods such as red meat, fish and nuts together, while the Mediterranean pyramid separates them and severely limits red meat.
Unlike the Mediterranean pyramid, the USDA pyramid does not make a distinction between healthier monounsaturated fats and less healthy saturated and trans fats from red meats, tropical oils, margarine and snack foods.
Both pyramids recommend limiting total fat if your goal is to lose weight, according to a comparison by the Women's Heart Foundation.
Lifestyle Factors
The Mediterranean Diet also has a social aspect. Researchers observed that people in Crete, Greece and Italy, on whose lifestyle the diet is modeled, took part in daily exercise, shared meals with others and approached the preparation and sharing of food as an enjoyable social activity.
Other Benefits
Researchers have documented many other health benefits of the Mediterranean Diet, including weight loss and a reduced risk for developing cancer, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, Parkinson's disease and heart conditions.
The diet is also associated with increased longevity. Those with a long-term adherence to the diet have a 20 percent reduced risk of dying from coronary artery disease compared to those following a typical American diet, according to the Women's Heart Foundation.
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