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What's behind Mediterranean diet and lower cardiovascular risk

medicalxpress.com

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Re: What's behind Mediterranean diet and lower cardiovascular risk

#31

Post by dawnerd »

aero142 wrote: post #26
alchemism wrote: post #24

I have friends in Athens, whom I visit. I’ve observed that most of the time they put their virgin olive oil on the food once it is done cooking. When asked about it they claimed that the oil is ‘full of healthy things that turn cancerous when burned.’ They rarely use extra-virgin to cook with, either.

Extra virgin olive oil is the first press oil. It contains particulates that have a very low smoke point. You should not be cooking with extra virgin olive oil. Pure olive oil is a later hot press extraction and does not have the particulates. It has a much higher smoke point. Im not convinced that US stores are actually selling extra virgin olive oil anyway outside of specialty shops. Olive oil is supposed to be fre…

Pretty common for us sold EVOO to be a mix. They’ll put some good stuff in it but the rest will be lower quality olive oil.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2016/09/30/its-ext...

Re: What's behind Mediterranean diet and lower cardiovascular risk

#32

Post by mrfusion »

alchemism wrote: post #25
mrfusion wrote: post #14

I’ve always wondered if Americans can follow the Mediterranean diet with all the reports of our olive oil being conterfiets.

Just avoid Italian oil unless you know the source / trust the distributor. Spanish and Greek oils are better, in general.

Is Aldi brand ok?

Re: What's behind Mediterranean diet and lower cardiovascular risk

#33

Post by antidesitter »

personjerry wrote: post #28

Mediterranean countries also have some of the worst economies. Could this also be related to diet? (I ask this as a legitimate question, not as an attack on Mediterranean countries)

Worst economies relative to what? Certainly not on a global scale.

Re: What's behind Mediterranean diet and lower cardiovascular risk

#34

Post by linkregister »

aero142 wrote: post #26
alchemism wrote: post #24

I have friends in Athens, whom I visit. I’ve observed that most of the time they put their virgin olive oil on the food once it is done cooking. When asked about it they claimed that the oil is ‘full of healthy things that turn cancerous when burned.’ They rarely use extra-virgin to cook with, either.

Extra virgin olive oil is the first press oil. It contains particulates that have a very low smoke point. You should not be cooking with extra virgin olive oil. Pure olive oil is a later hot press extraction and does not have the particulates. It has a much higher smoke point. Im not convinced that US stores are actually selling extra virgin olive oil anyway outside of specialty shops. Olive oil is supposed to be fre…

Your suspicion is substantiated [1]. Olive oil bought from U.S. producers will have had substantially less opportunity for adulteration, as their processes are certified by U.S. authorities (this is a mitigation and not a guarantee).

1. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/1198...

Re: What's behind Mediterranean diet and lower cardiovascular risk

#35

Post by muxator »

personjerry wrote: post #28

Mediterranean countries also have some of the worst economies. Could this also be related to diet? (I ask this as a legitimate question, not as an attack on Mediterranean countries)

Hardly.

It has more to do with gastronomical culture, I think. In Italy, for example, eating quality food is _important_, it is something people care about and actively look for.

This has a low correlation with social or economical status, is something deeper, something that people learn to do since kids, looking at their parent's behavior, going with them at the market and learning how to choose good ingredients, spending time cooking.

Re: What's behind Mediterranean diet and lower cardiovascular risk

#36

Post by coldtea »

alchemism wrote: post #24

I have friends in Athens, whom I visit. I’ve observed that most of the time they put their virgin olive oil on the food once it is done cooking. When asked about it they claimed that the oil is ‘full of healthy things that turn cancerous when burned.’ They rarely use extra-virgin to cook with, either.

Greeks use virgin olive oil (and good quality one, often from some friend/relative in a village making their own) raw on top of salads, bread, and other stuff. Raw oil is also common over grilled fish and such.

They do use it to cook all the time, in soups, stews, oven foods, pasta, meats, fish, etc.

Often, however, they'll fry french fries) with some other oil like sunflower. But many still fry with olive oil as well, and usually consider it better.

"In fact, olive oil may be one of the better oils to fry with. "Smoke points tend to increase with olive oil quality, as the free fatty acid content tends to decrease and the antioxidant content increases," explained Rachel Adams, a health science professor at Cardiff Metropolitan University in the U.K. "The high antioxidant content of olive oil could even reduce the amount of harmful chemicals produced during cooking," Adams told The Conversation. According to the Cleveland Clinic, flaxseed oil has a low smoking point, meaning you really shouldn't heat it up. Light olive oil, by comparison, has a high smoking point, meaning you can make it pretty hot. If you're going to deep fry, light refined olive oil is a good way to go. Extra virgin olive oil and canola oil are more in the middle – you can stir fry or bake with them, but don't deep fry. "Bottom line – if you cook at high heat, stick with refined olive oil," Berkowitz explained. "Medium temperature on most stoves is 250-350, which even extra virgin olive oil can handle. But high temp cooking or frying deserves high smoke point oils."

Re: What's behind Mediterranean diet and lower cardiovascular risk

#37

Post by kkapelon »

personjerry wrote: post #28

Mediterranean countries also have some of the worst economies. Could this also be related to diet? (I ask this as a legitimate question, not as an attack on Mediterranean countries)

I think the high usage of olive oil overshadows everything else. Also I don't think that France or Italy have the "worst" economy.

Re: What's behind Mediterranean diet and lower cardiovascular risk

#38

Post by coldtea »

vahji wrote: post #18
entity345 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are assuming that poorer means worse diet. That is simply not true at all in relation to having a healthy diet, and the opposite is perhaps true. In many places the traditional diet is healthy. Then, when people become richer they eat more, eat more meat, more fat, more sugar, more processed food, etc., and obesity and cardiovascular diseases shoot up.

As a poor person who's always been surrounded by poor people, you are wrong. Poor and less educated people know nothing about nutrition and don't have the money to buy good food. When you don't have the money you are forced to fill up with cheap calories like bread, rice, pasta, sugar, etc.

>Poor and less educated people know nothing about nutrition and don't have the money to buy good food.

In societies with traditional agriculture and village culture, they don't have to "know about nutrition". Their traditional recipes and ways of eating are healthier, and cheaper.

That's not an absolute rule, but that's exactly the case with Mediterranean diet for one.

>When you don't have the money you are forced to fill up with cheap calories like bread, rice, pasta, sugar, etc.

Some of which is fine. The healthier people in Japan eat a lot of rice, and bread is mighty fine too, as are noodles etc.

Sugar and highly refined breads are recent inventions. They poor people in Italy pre-70s would hardly have much sugar in their meals except from natural sources (tomatoes etc, not refined). No fast-food and crappy supermarket tv-diner style food either. People cooked religiously.

Also the poor masses in Italy etc were traditionally not destitute (e.g. developing world-like). Just poor. They could still afford basic meals, and had strong family support.

Re: What's behind Mediterranean diet and lower cardiovascular risk

#39

Post by jorvi »

blunte wrote: post #22
jorvi wrote: post #19

I always feel apprehensive about ‘region X’s diet is the healthiest’ articles. To me, the strongest example for this is the Japanese diet. Whilst their diet is healthy in many ways, it also raises your risk for stomach cancer by quite a lot.

I agree that I think that diet is one significant part of a (probably complex) equation - not a single deciding factor. But regarding Japanese stomach cancer... if you're saying they get stomach cancer more than others because of their diet, how do they still live so long? Do they also have a secret way of beating the cancer so it doesn't cut their lives short?

For one they are aware they (as a population) get stomach cancer more often, so they actively screen for it, in the way most countries in the West screen for colon cancer.

Remember that some types of cancer, if caught early enough, are more akin to a chronic condition than a delayed death sentence. Once treated there are quarterly or bi-annual checkups and any suspicious tissue will be removed preventatively. You still have a much higher chance of stomach cancer popping up again vs. someone who never had it, but with the checkups it’ll be nipped in the bud before it grows into something severe.

That might sound offhand but that is how it is for (as far as I’m aware) bladder cancer and most gastrointestinal cancers. Cancer in the lungs, liver or brain usually is much much more dangerous because there’s little screening and they’re much more resistant to treatment.

Re: What's behind Mediterranean diet and lower cardiovascular risk

#40

Post by bobthepanda »

Could another factor be physical activity? The extent of many Americans' physical activity is walking from the car to the entrance of a building; the fad goal of 10,000 steps is fairly trivial to hit if you walk to work or use transit on a regular basis.

Survey from NYC comparing exercise by primary modes of transportation: https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/epi/PAT-survey...

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