It has been hypothesized that a "Mediterranean diet " (i.e., low intake of saturated and polyunsaturated fats but high intake of oleic acid, omega-3 fatty acids, fibers, natural antioxidants and B-complex vitamins) "protects" against cardiovascular disease.
Now, in the first randomized trial of the Mediterranean dietary pattern, researchers claim that the diet prolongs survival in newly diagnosed cancer patients and may also protect against cancer. [Source: Archives of Internal Medicine (June 8, 1998).]
But the study is small (24 total cancers observed in 605 subjects), so it's hard to draw any firm conclusions about the hypothesized benefits of the Mediterranean diet.
But just for grins, let's compare life expectancies among European Mediterranean populations and non-Mediterranean populations. Since cancer and heart disease are probably the two biggest killers in almost any western population, comparing life expectancies may be a useful indicator of whether there's anything to the Mediterranean diet hypothesis.
In France, Italy and Greece, life expectancies are 75.0, 75.5 and 76.5, respectively. In the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland, life expectancies are 76.5, 77.1, and 77.6. Hmmmmm... it seems the non-Mediterraneans are living slightly longer lives.
Now I know this comparison is not really "scientific," but there doesn't appear to be anything special going on among the Mediterranean populations either.
What's worse news for the Mediterranean diet is that U.S. life expectancy is 75 -- a statistic that includes African-Americans who have significantly lower life expectancy than white Americans. So assuming that diet is a major factor in life expectancy, if we were to compare white Americans (of European descent) with the Mediterranean populations, we might even find that the American diet -- which includes McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut -- isn't so bad, after all.
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