Posted on 12/17/2004 6:50:30 AM PST by Pharmboy
LONDON (Reuters) - If you enjoy good food and don't like the idea of taking pills to reduce the risks of heart attack or stroke, it could be time to try the Polymeal.
Foods ranging from wine to fish and fruits and vegetables have been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, so Dr Oscar Franco, a public health expert at the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, decided to combine them in one meal.
If people over 50 years old consumed roughly the daily equivalent of the Polymeal, the researchers calculated, they could slash the odds of suffering from heart disease, one of the world's biggest killers, by 76 percent.
"The message of our paper is that a healthy lifestyle and a good balanced diet is a good alternative to prevent cardiovascular disease," Franco said in an interview.
He and his team searched scientific literature to find foods that have a proven protective effect against cardiovascular disease and then used a mathematical model to determine how much the combined effects of the individual ingredients would reduce the risk of the illness. The results are reported in the British Medical Journal
The Polymeal consists of wine, fish, dark chocolate, fruit and vegetables, garlic and almonds. The ingredients should be taken daily, apart from fish which could be eaten about four times a week, as part of a balanced diet.
Wine and chocolate must be consumed in moderation.
The scientists said the results of eating the Polymeal would be most dramatic for men, whom they estimated would live 6.6 years longer in total than their counterparts not eating the meal. They would also delay the onset of heart disease by 9 years.
Women would gain nearly 5 years and keep heart disease at bay for about 8 years.
The scientists devised the Polymeal as a non-pharmaceutical alternative to a Polypill, a combination of drugs taken in one dose to cut heart disease, which was proposed in 2003.
Polymeals, combined with exercise and non-smoking, are the ingredients for a healthy lifestyle to prevent heart disease, Franco added.
In a separate report in the journal, renowned chef Raymond Blanc created a three-course dinner of watercress soup, grilled fillet of mackerel with winter root vegetables, chickpeas, toasted almonds and garlic and chocolate mousse, based on the Polymeal ingredients.
Make 'em drive Chevy's?
(ducking...)
is a half gallon of chocolate ice cream moderate?
Fish was intended by God to be fried. I'm sure it's there in the bible somewhere. Preferably in some sort of batter. Beer batter works well and I've found that Aunt Jemima pancake mix as a batter works great too!
If it's not fried then it's not really fish
LOL!
You'd make it great in a British or Irish pub!
yep. Served up with a huge helping of chips (British) or cottage fries (Irish). Also fried.
Would you care for a Guinness? (Deep-fried, of course).
I can't do Guinness. It's the only beer I know of where if you break the bottle you don't have to worry about spills. Just take a bite of the standing stout and watch out for small pieces of glass.
Guiness : semi-liquid fermented beer bread.
Just so it is clearly understood by all on this thread:
It is a humorous parody, equivalent to an April Fool's Joke.
The article on the PolyPill appeared in last year's annual Christmas Humor Issue. The article on the PolyMeal appeared in this year's annual Christmas Humor issue. It is all a JOKE. It is a parody. Since the original article is a parody, any press releases based on it are simply written by medical editors who don't know how to read carefully!
So to repeat: IT IS A JOKE. Many people seem to be taking it as some sort of legitimate news story. Its not!
One time I heard that the person in the US who lived the longest ever recorded life lived almost exclusively on something you would never expect:
Fig Newtons.
I'm not kidding. And I have also heard that figs are very, very, very good for you, but not sure why, exactly.
Which is good, actually, fresh figs are wunderbar!
So many women are gonna be disappointed.
bump
Wet blanket? Perhaps. I'd prefer that than someone who actually believes this guff.
So to repeat: IT IS A JOKE.
You're right! Dark chocolate and wine for everyone!!
I admire the strength you have to continue living...
Yeah, I finally figured out that I'm completely allergic to alcohol, because every time I took a drink, I broke out in compulsive cocaine use.
LOL, wasn't that Clinton's excuse?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.