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Mediterranean diet may prevent memory loss and dementia, study finds
- treeman79 5y agoHad massive brain fog for a few years, finally got it cleared up. One aspect was food related and an undiagnosed autoimmune condition. Autoimmune patients often find that diet is an effective way to manage disease. Anywhere from some improvement to essentially cured. Autoimmune conditions can take years to decades to diagnosis, so a lot of people don’t realize they have one. There is a specific AIP diet for this. Many of the reduced carb diets are similar.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- noir_lord 5y agoCurious why you got downvotes - there actually is evidence for the AIP diet and using it to control some auto-immune disorders. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/aip-diet-autoimmune-protocol-diet#how-it-works https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/aip-diet-autoimmune-pro... This place is strange at times.
- treeman79 5y agoI always imagine that half the people here are some variation of Sheldon from Big Bang theory.
- lambdaba 5y agoI post similar comments and get the same downvotes. Keywords are "paleo", "keto" and "carnivore". I too have fully recovered from an incurable autoimmune illness.
- lambdaba 5y agoMy conclusion after years of researching this as someone diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 24 is it's all about gut barrier integrity (and thereafter other barriers like the blood-brain barrier). The reason we're seeing people with chronic disease earlier and earlier is that the newer generations have grown up with deficiencies and toxins (such as seed oils), going back to the womb. One of the references I often give and is downvoted both here and on Reddit is a clinic in Hungary called "Paleomedicina" (already with "paleo" in the name some reach for the downvote). It's unfortunate as they are doing amazing work with incredible success for all these "incurable" diseases.
- xvedejas 5y agoSeed oils are toxins? Maybe I'm living under a rock by being perplexed by this, but you'll have to explain further.
- lambdaba 5y agoCheck out the work of Dr. Cate Shanahan. Many interviews on YouTube. In short it's to do mainly with the linoleic acid (omega-6) content of those oils, these fats are highly unstable / subjected to oxidation. When they get integrated in our own body fat it wreaks havoc. Can't burn fat / inflamed / chronically hungry / tired etc. I don't have a reference but I read a study showing how the fatty acid profile in people's body fat has gradually shifted to more and more polyunsaturated fat. This is not normal and as Dr. Shanahan explains, the integration of seed oil fats in human body fat is unprecedented and a massive experiment for which we're seeing the results for some decades now, but are slow to realize.
- xvedejas 5y agoIs "toxin" the right word for this? What you've described sounds bad, but not literally toxic in the way botulinum is.
- carlob 5y agoThe pictures include blueberries and salmon which are definitely not staples of the Mediterranean diet and are not really available locally anywhere near the Mediterranean. If it was about Omega-3 they could have shown anchovies, sardines, mackerel or even tuna...
- masterphilo 5y agoConversely, there are foods like bread & pasta, which you'd think are part of a Mediterranean diet, not included in the list. I think that list should be renamed to something like "Low-carb Mediterranean diet may prevent..."
- hkt 5y agoI can't imagine eating olives without some focaccia or ciabatta to dip in the oil. With balsamic vinegar, naturally. HN = Hanger News, today.
- towergratis 5y agoSame in Greece, bread is everywhere. Every household buys at least a loaf per day, and of course it's free and as much as you can eat in every restaurant.
- carlob 5y agoAs an Italian I'm thoroughly confused by the addition of balsamic vinegar to everything. I've heard Brits put it in Bolognese sauce (ragù) and now with olives. How about you try fennel seeds and orange zest next time? Also would you consider focaccia still appropriate for brined olives?
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- gg80 5y agoBlueberries are actually quite common in the Mediterranean area, but you are right about salmon.
- hawthornio 5y agoWhy not just be vegan and take algae-based Omega-3 supplements??? If find the News' obsession with the Mediterranean diet very strange.
- mrtesthah 5y agoWhy are you assuming that the primary health benefits in the mediterranean diet come from omega-3 fatty acids? They could just as well come from oleuropin in olives / olive oil.
- hervature 5y agoWhy even bother with tablets? A tablespoon of flaxseed covers your Omega 3 and lots of fiber.
- theptip 5y agoI was under the impression that flax just gives you ALA not EPA/DHA, so you won’t get all the benefits of fish/krill oil with flax. The latter two are the ones that give the biggest benefits. Eg https://www.nordicnaturals.com/healthy-science/is-eating-chia-and-flax-enough-to-meet-your-daily-omega-3-needs/ https://www.nordicnaturals.com/healthy-science/is-eating-chi...
- TylerLives 5y agoOnly ~10% of plant based omega 3s is "useful" - https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/why-not-flaxseed-oil https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/why-not-flaxseed...
- cheese_goddess 5y agoThis is an honest question and I would prefer not to start a flame war, but would you replace all the food you eat with nutritional supplements? Or, if not all, then as many as possible? If this is not possible today, is it something that you would want to do in the future?
- KitDuncan 5y ago
- cies 5y agoThere is no Mediterranean diet. It a huge collections of diets and cuisines that have at times very little in common. In the Blue Zones, a book on this topic, 2 particularly healthy medi-diets/lifestyles are examined.
- DoingIsLearning 5y agoAlso one thing that is often overlooked is how 'old'/traditional diets were very seasonal. You would have tomatoes from June to August. Sardines would be the fatest around July. You would have grapes and wine by September and chestnuts by early November. You would kill a pig for multiple families once a year, eat some of it fresh and salt/smoke the remaining. Perhaps this seasonal scarcity is not a protective factor but it seems to me that this a variable that is never discussed when looking at traditional diet of <geographic-region>.
- towergratis 5y ago> Also one thing that is often overlooked is how 'old'/traditional diets were very seasonal. Great point. Also keep in mind that religion plays a critical role. Greece in the mid 1900's was a very religious country, and most people attended the 40 days diet that they would abstain completely from consuming land-animal products.
- doktorhladnjak 5y agoMediterranean diet typically refers to a diet put together by a cardiologist for his patients suffering from heart disease. It really is only loosely related to what people eat in areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea
- WalterBright 5y agoSimilar information is in the book "The End of Alzheimers". https://www.amazon.com/End-Alzheimers-Program-Protocol-Cognition/dp/0525538496/ https://www.amazon.com/End-Alzheimers-Program-Protocol-Cogni...
- AdrianB1 5y agoMy fist visit in Albania 20 years ago: "we produce and use olive oil, but is it not as common and cheap as sunflower seed oil (most used in the area), so don't think we can replace all oil with olive oil because that is not possible". Mediterranean diet includes olive oil, but it does not exclude sunflower seed oil. Maybe CNN is not such a good source of information of habits of people across the globe. Even people that I know owning olive plantations and processing installations don't consume a lot of it, they can't afford to.
- towergratis 5y agoRaised in Greece. Olive oil is used exclusively in home cooking, with the only exception of frying, in which case sunflower seed oil is used. To give you an idea, usually Greeks don't buy olive oil in bottles. They buy it in 5lt to 17lt containers I believe the situation is similar in Italy too. At least southern Italy
- UncleOxidant 5y agoIs some of that olive oil adulterated with other cheaper oils like sunflower oil? This is the thesis of the book Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil
- towergratis 5y agoNo self-respecting Greek mom buys anything else other than Extra Virgin Olive Oil. If it does get adulterated illegally, I don't know. But haven't heard of any scandal like that.
- bumbada 5y agoSpaniards or Italians take Olive oil seriously, just like in China you could clone or adulterate anything but tea, silk or porcelain. If you fake phones or handbags or sunglasses nobody cares. It is forbidden but authorities turn a blind eye. If you fake tea in China, you get executed. Period. The most important thing is that people know and a big industry behind. It is easy to trick Americans, but I know people that could clearly differentiate between different varieties like arbequina or picual and even the year and the place it comes from.
- krona 5y agoThe nutritional composition of today's vegetables in the average supermarket bare little resplendence to the variety of food consumed decades ago in the Mediterranean. I wonder if the study could account for this unfortunate fact. Anyone who's compared tomato imported from the Netherlands (the worlds second largest exporter of tomato) to a tomato bought in a farmers market in Italy knows what I mean.
- maccard 5y ago> The nutritional composition of today's vegetables in the average supermarket bare little resplendence to the variety of food consumed decades ago in the Mediterranean. I hate being that guy, but citation needed? Have you measured this (or can you share a study with us that has)? This is a bold claim and definite worth having reinforced. > Anyone who's compared tomato imported from the Netherlands (the worlds second largest exporter of tomato) to a tomato bought in a farmers market in Italy knows what I mean. I can attest to the difference in flavor between a fresh Mediterranean product and the basic supermarket version, but i can also attest to the flavor difference between a room temperature quality beer and an ice cold bottle of the cheapest crap imaginable on a beach.
- bennysomething 5y agoGenuine question: where can I find info on this? The more expensive tomoatos in my super market taste amazing compared to cheap ones. Is better taste more nutritious? Would growing my own veg in a green house help?
- simonmales 5y agoI can't recall what I watched, but it was Michael Polan saying that organic food is better for you and also tastes better. Googling "Michael Poland organic food tastes better" might get you into the right direction.
- professoretc 5y agoBlind taste tests have found that organic tastes no different from non-organic.
- raffraffraff 5y agoPizza!!
- towergratis 5y agoFrom the article: > Forget lasagna, pizza, spanakopita and lamb souvlaki -- they are not on the daily menu of those who live by the Mediterranean seaside. > The true diet is simple, plant-based cooking, with the majority of each meal focused on fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and seeds, with a few nuts and a heavy emphasis on extra-virgin olive oil. Fats other than olive oil, such as butter, are consumed rarely, if at all. And say goodbye to refined sugar or flour. > Meat can make a rare appearance, but usually only to flavor a dish. Instead, meals may include eggs, dairy and poultry, but in much smaller portions than in the traditional Western diet. > However, fish, which are full of brain-boosting omega-3's, are a staple. That's definitely not today's Mediterranean diet. Maybe it's what Mediterranean diet used to be 70 years ago, but as Mediterranean countries became richer, so did their diet. Refined flour bread is present and consumed with almost every meal. Meat is very regular too. Foods like lentil soup and bean soup are eaten with lots of bread, cheese, and other side dishes that make it much less healthy.
- caslon 5y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_diet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_diet The Mediterranean diet is a diet inspired by the eating habits of Greece, Italy, and Spain in the 1960s.[1][2] The principal aspects of this diet include proportionally high consumption of olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, fruits,[3] and vegetables, moderate to high consumption of fish, moderate consumption of dairy products (mostly as cheese and yogurt), moderate wine consumption, and low consumption of non-fish meat products. Olive oil has been studied as a potential health factor for reducing all-cause mortality and the risk of chronic diseases.
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- towergratis 5y ago> The Mediterranean diet is a diet inspired by the eating habits of Greece, Italy, and Spain in the 1960s. Hmm.. that's what I said too, right?
- hmahncke 5y agoThis is an observational study, not a randomized controlled trial. So it can’t really establish causality. A number of observational studies have previously shown an association between MeDi adherence and cognitive function and dementia risk; this went further to establish an association with structural brain imaging measures. We’re still waiting for the outcome of the NIH funded randomized controlled trial.
- sremani 5y agoIt's not what they eat, its how and when they eat (or not) is also important. One thing Taleb points out is things like practicing lent or religious fasting that is component in these cultures.
- raarts 5y agoI deeply distrust headlines with expressions like 'scientists say', 'study finds', or with words like 'may', 'might' or 'could'. In any field.
- aasasd 5y agoI woundn't be surprised if it also cures depression. Curse this here land of potato and wheat.
- cheese_goddess 5y agoFrom wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_diet#History_and_reception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_diet#History_and... > The concept of a Mediterranean diet was developed to reflect "food patterns typical of Crete, much of the rest of Greece, and Italy in the early 1960s".[43] Although it was first publicized in 1975 by the American biologist Ancel Keys and chemist Margaret Keys (a husband and wife team),[56] the Mediterranean diet failed to gain widespread recognition until the 1990s. Objective data showing that the Mediterranean diet is healthy originated from results of epidemiological studies in Naples and Madrid,[57] confirmed later by the Seven Countries Study first published in 1970,[58] and a book-length report in 1980.[59] > The most commonly understood version of the Mediterranean diet was presented, among others, by Walter Willett and colleagues of Harvard University's School of Public Health since the mid-1990s.[60][61][62][63] The Mediterranean diet is based on a paradox: although the people living in Mediterranean countries tend to consume relatively high amounts of fat, they have far lower rates of cardiovascular disease than in countries like the United States where similar levels of fat consumption are found. Comparing Americans with Italians and Cretans of the 1960's has so many confounding factors. For one thing, the Cretans and most Italians would have lived in villages and small towns and would have been predominantly farmers engaged in physical work (and so exercise) whereas most Americans of the '60s would live urban lives in large cities and not exercised a lot. I don't know if any research attempted to account for this difference in life styles, but diet can't have been the only factor that affected relative cardiovascular health.