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Greek researchers offered fresh evidence of the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, reporting in a large study that it helps improve several risk factors linked to diabetes, obesity and heart disease.
The Mediterranean diet is high in monounsaturated fats such as olive oil and also relies heavily on whole-grain cereals, fruits and vegetables, fish and low consumption of animal fats. It has been shown in numerous studies and clinical trials to reduce mortality from such causes as cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Experts believe the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits of the foods associated with the diet confer health benefits across a variety of diseases.
In a new analysis that pooled findings from 50 different studies involving a total of more than 500,000 patients, researchers led by Demosthenes B. Panagiotakos of Harakopio University, Athens, found the diet had beneficial effects against five components of a prediabetic condition called the metabolic syndrome. The analysis found that adherence to a Mediterranean diet was associated with a 31% reduction in risk of developing the syndrome.
The constellation of components of metabolic syndrome include waist circumference over 40 inches in men and 35 inches in women, abnormally high blood pressure and blood sugar, very low levels of HDL or good cholesterol and high levels of blood fats called triglycerides. Abnormalities in these risk factors are widespread among the growing numbers of people who are obese or overweight or have diabetes.
Heart experts and public-health officials believe effective approaches to helping people shrink their waistlines and achieve normal blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels would help reduce the devastating toll of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
The new study, published online Monday by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, is consistent with other findings of the protective benefit of the Mediterranean diet.
Elizabeth Jackson, a cardiologist at University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, said the study suggests that 'when people are able to make improvements through diet, they are preventing the need in the future to go on medication' to control blood pressure and other risk factors. If doctors make more effort 'to counsel patients on what a general healthy-eating diet is like, we can get a lot of bang for the buck,' she added.
There were some limitations to the findings. For one, the benefit against the metabolic syndrome was found mostly in studies conducted in Mediterranean countries, and not in countries outside of that region.
Dr. Jackson said different designs of the underlying studies and the duration of follow-up could have influenced the results. She said, for instance, that U.S. studies, including the big Nurses Health Study at Harvard Medical School, have demonstrated the benefits of the diet in a U.S. population.
The results also reflect changes in recent years in how cardiologists look at the effect of diet on heart risk. For years, heart experts were focused on low-fat diets, but 'we've really shifted our focus to thinking about other components,' Dr. Jackson said. Research into the Mediterranean diet reflects how dietary fiber can affect measures like triglycerides.
參考譯文：
希臘研究人員給出了地中海式飲食對健康益處的新證據，一個大型研究報告說，這種飲食有助于改善與糖尿病、肥胖和心臟病有關的一些風險因素。
地中海式飲食富含單一不飽和脂肪，如橄欖油，同時十分注重全麥谷物、果蔬和魚類，對動物脂肪的攝入量很低。無數的研究和臨床實驗顯示，這種飲食可降低心血管疾病和癌癥的死亡率。
專家認為，與這種飲食相關的食物有抗氧化和消炎方面的益處，從而對許多種類的疾病有益。
雅典Harakopio大學的Demosthenes B. Panagiotakos牽頭進行了一項新的分析，集成了50個不同研究的發現，總共涉及逾50萬患者。分析發現，地中海式飲食對一種名為代謝綜合癥的前驅糖尿病的五種指標有良好影響。分析發現，堅持地中海式飲食可使罹患這種綜合癥的風險降低31%。
代謝綜合癥的指標包括：男性腰圍超過40英寸，女性超過35英寸，血壓和血糖反常偏高，高密度脂蛋白或優質膽固醇水平極低，血脂（甘油三脂）水平高。在肥胖、超重或糖尿病人群中，這些風險因素出現異常的情況越來越普遍。
心臟病專家和公共衛生官員認為，如果能夠有效地幫助人們縮減腰圍并達到正常血壓、血糖和膽固醇水平，將有助于降低糖尿病和心血管疾病的死亡率。
《美國心臟病學雜志》(Journal of the American College of Cardiology)在網上發布了這項新的研究結果，它與有關地中海式飲食保護作用的其他研究發現一致。
美國密歇根大學安娜堡分校(University of Michigan at Ann Arbor)的心臟病學家杰克遜(Elizabeth Jackson)說，這項研究表明，如果人們能夠通過飲食改善健康狀況，就相當于讓自己將來無需用藥控制血壓和其他風險因素。她補充說，如果醫生多費點事向患者提出通常的健康飲食建議，就能夠起到很大的效果。
上述研究結果也有一些局限。一方面，針對代謝綜合癥的益處主要是在地中海國家進行的研究中發現的，該地區以外的國家則沒有。
杰克遜說，基礎研究的不同形式以及跟進時間的期限可能會影響研究結果。她舉例說，包括哈佛醫學院(Harvard Medical School)重大研究“護士健康研究”(Nurses Health Study)在內的一些美國研究發現這種飲食在美國人當中產生了益處。
研究結果還反映出近年來心臟病學家就飲食對心臟病風險影響的看法有什么樣的轉變。杰克遜說，多年來，心臟病學家一直關注低脂飲食，但現在我們實際上將注意力轉向考慮其他指標。對地中海式飲食的研究反映了膳食纖維對甘油三脂等指標有何影響。
