"Several dietary patterns, including the DASH-style eating plan (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), Mediterranean, pescatarian and vegetarian eating patterns, received top ratings for aligning with the Association’s dietary guidance.
A few eating patterns, including Paleo and ketogenic diets, contradict the Association’s guidance and did not rank as heart-healthy eating patterns."
Interesting reading, thanks for posting - Mediterranean diet and veggie come out high on the list of good ways forward. DASH comes out the best - I hadn't heard of this description before - it's outlined in the article and includes some kinds of meat and fish.
A traditional Mediterranean diet included lots of fish and some meat - just not beef. That was because the land on Mediterranean islands and round much of the mainland littoral was just not suitable for cattle. So meat included would be lamb and goat both of which do well on poorer land. Some pork too as pigs are not fussy about what they eat. Dairy too would be mainly from sheep's or goat's milk as evidenced by the excellent cheeses these produce. I do not see a problem in eating some beef - provided it is from cattle that are fed as they should be - munching grass and other plants in fields and not shut up in sheds eating grain. Much of the poor quality studies that equate eating meat with ill health do not distiguish between processed meat products and high quality naturally raised organic meat.
Frankly I would not take any advice at all from the AHA . They are shills for Pharma and the industrialised food industry.
Hmmm. What you may eat while living on the Med and describe as a Mediterranean diet is not what the medical/nutritionist fraternity categorise as a Mediterranean diet, which is generally recognised as being:
Lots of vegetables, fruit, beans, lentils and nuts.
Lots of whole grains, like whole-wheat bread and brown rice.
Plenty of extra virgin olive oil as a source of healthy fat.
A moderate amount of fish, especially fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
A moderate amount of cheese and yogurt.
Little or no meat, choosing poultry instead of red meat.
Little or no sweets, sugary drinks or butter.
A moderate amount of wine with meals (but if you don’t already drink, don’t start).
The categories used in this study were:
Choosing:
1. Plenty of fruit & veg
2. Whole grains rather than refined grains
3. Healthy protein source: plant based, seafood, low fat dairy, poultry
4. Liquid plant oils used for cooking
5. Low added sugar & salt
I'd be interested in knowing why you think the AHA are big Pharma shills - but there are certainly no drugs/supplements recommended here! The main author of the study is highly qualified director of nutrition studies at the Stanford Prevention Research Center and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University.
How about the British Medical Journal?
"Moderate certainty evidence shows that programmes promoting Mediterranean and low fat diets, with or without physical activity or other interventions, reduce all cause mortality and non-fatal myocardial infarction in patients with increased cardiovascular risk. Mediterranean programmes are also likely to reduce stroke risk."
bmj.com/content/380/bmj-202...
What I am pointing out is that an actual Mediterranean diet eaten by people who lived in that area, before the era of widespread junk food consumption, did include meat and dairy ( though not that coming from cows) If it no longer contains any meat like lamb or goat in small quantities then it is a pseudo Mediterranean diet confected by dietitians who lump all meat into one category and probably think that a healthy meat like wild boar or venison that has been shot is the same as beef raised in CAFOs. As for sugary drinks no traditional European diets would have featured these in any significant amounts prior to the 50s or 60s. But a dessert would have been served on Sundays even in Mediterranean countries. I remember holidaying in Sicily in the early 80s. Fruit was served in the hotel as a dessert but on Sundays there was a dessert which was announced proudly as a traditional local speciality. Here in France most areas have a traditional sweet speciality many of them having been produced for at least 200 years. The difference is that they were considered treats. Cakes from patisseries are quite expensive here and people only buy them on special occasions . They are a far cry from the mass produced biscuits , muffins, cakes available in supermarkets. These specialist patisseries exist and have existed in all parts of France including the Mediterranean littoral. From travelling in Italy , Spain and to islands in the Mediterranean I can vouch that they have the same types of patisseries there albeit with different cakes.
So what the medical / nutritionist fraternity categorise as a Mediterranean diet is a bit of a fantasy Mediterranean diet .
The AHA get large sums of money from Pharma and big food companies. He who pays the piper calls the tune.
Regardless - as already explained, what you recognise as A mediterranean diet is not "The Mediterranean Diet" defined by the scientific community - as described here:
"The Mediterranean diet is a diet inspired by the eating habits and traditional food typical of southern Spain, southern Italy, Crete and much of the rest of Greece discovered internationally in the early 1960s. This differentiates it from Mediterranean cuisine, which occurs naturally in Mediterranean countries and is inherent to them. While inspired by a specific time and place, the "Mediterranean diet" was later proven and refined based on the results of multiple scientific studies."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medit...
Also, in recommending a natural whole food diet, please explain what tune the AHA piper is playing in this case.
They are a bit tardy in this and really could not do anything different considering everybody has known for years that the SAD is an unmitigated disaster. I read their statement and some of it is very dubious. They say that "Because food is often eaten in places besides the home, the statement emphasizes that it is possible to follow a heart-healthy dietary pattern regardless of whether food is prepared at home, ordered in a restaurant or online, or purchased as a prepared meal." This implies that you can follow a heart healthy diet eating at McDonalds and KFC and eating stuff made in factories. I would argue that the last bit in particular is nonsense and that prepared meals are not healthy , not for the heart or any other bit of us.
There is still too much emphasis on eating cereals even though whole grains are recommended. There is an unscientific obsession with avoiding animal fat. Man has eaten animal fats since we evolved to hunt. What we have not evolved to eat are highly processed sunflower , corn and canola oil. What is more until these sorts of fats were introduced into the diet there was far less heart disease. You might recall that that cheating bastard Ancel Keynes found that the French who ate one of the highest amounts of animal fats in their diets had the least cardiovascular disease. It was called the French Paradox but idiots like Keynes still insisted that animal fat was a cause of heart disease. Also since the stupid food pyramid recommended umpteen servings of grain based carbs a day there has been an explosion of obesity and diabetes,
They are nowhere near specific enough about what constitutes highly processed food because then they would have to include the majority of the products on sale in any supermarket and the big food companies would not want to give them money. What people should be being told is that most of the rubbish that pretends to be food that is sold in supermarkets should be abandoned and that people should learn to cook for themselves from scratch. But then the food companies would not be nearly as profitable as they make their money from marketing trash as food.
One of the stupidest and plain wrong things in the dietary advice on the AHA's website is their advice on milk products where they continue their no fat / low fat recommendations making no exception for children . Low fat dairy products are notorious for having added sugar or artificial sweeteners in order to make up for the loss of palatability due to the removal of the fat- and often now come under the label of highly processed foods.
"cheating bastard Ancel Keynes"
I think it's time to let this thread go.
There are many healthy ways of eating and there’s room for a lot of flexibility. Food rules and making [insert name of any current or past faddy diet] part of one’s identity is not psychologically healthy, and any sort of exclusion diet where there is no genuine medical reason isn’t good for physical or mental health either. I believe we should all eat as well as we can but it’s only one of the several pillars of health.
However, many people aren't sure how to eat well and healthily, for the heart in particular, which is why I posted this article 10 popular diets scored for heart-healthy elements by the American Heart Assoc.
It’s certainly confusing for many people but within the overall definition of “healthy” there is a lot of flexibility, as you have highlighted by linking to the article.
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