Posted on 02/26/2024 9:29:00 PM PST by ConservativeMind
The Mediterranean diet garners praise once again. In addition to preventing cardiovascular accidents, this diet can also help slow the deterioration of the kidneys. It is a benefit that, for the first time, has been demonstrated in patients suffering from type 2 diabetes.
The key lies in compounds called advanced glycation end products, better known as AGEs. These are molecules with an inflammatory and oxidizing capacity.
The study analyzed the levels of these harmful compounds in more than 500 diabetics, comparing, over a period of five years, how two types of healthy diets affect the body: the Mediterranean diet and another low-fat diet richer in carbohydrates.
According to the results of the study, patients who had eaten a Mediterranean diet during those years had lower levels of these harmful compounds in their blood.
"We were able to verify that this diet better activates the detoxification process; that is, the mechanism by which the body eliminates these harmful substances," said Francisco Miguel Gutiérrez.
There are multiple reasons why this diet is beneficial for health. In addition to the antioxidant capacity of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), previous studies have shown how ways of cooking with it also play an important role. For example, foods that are cooked at high temperatures for short periods of time "contain a higher amount of these harmful substances" than other cooking techniques typical of the Mediterranean diet that "require longer cooking times, and are gentler on the food," Yubero said.
This work was published within the framework of the Cordioprev study, carried out over the course of seven years with more than 1,000 patients with heart disease, and in which the differences between a healthy low-fat diet and a Mediterranean diet rich in virgin olive oil are compared.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
“There are two liquids that are especially agreeable to the human body, wine inside and olive oil outside” - Pliny the Elder, c. 77 A.D.
Interesting
I have no doubt that the Mediterranean Diet has been very beneficial to many people. The problem of course is that there are many variations in what can be called a "low fat diet". Most studies designed to prove the effectiveness of the Mediterranean Diet are effectively setting up what amounts to be a strawman argument.
More food fads? Sixty five years ago added Gluten was the fad for breads. Now it is bad. Then there was eating the inside of the orange peel, then Acidophilus milk.
All gone as new fads take their place.
For example, foods that are cooked at high temperatures for short periods of time “contain a higher amount of these harmful substances”
So...no thick steak briefly grilled at high temps? Goodbye, carnivore/keto diets.
Just cook it longer at a temperature below 212.
bfl
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