Plant-Based Diets Protect From Heart Disease Better Than Mediterranean Diets

The Mediterranean diet has long been touted for its benefits as an overall balanced way of eating. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine looked at the Mediterranean diet as it relates to prevention of heart disease, finding that it may be protective against heart attack and stroke. But according to Washington DC based group, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a better way to prevent heart disease is to focus on high-fiber, plant-based foods. These include fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. These foods provide safe and healthy sources of omega-3 fats without the risks of toxins found in fish. While fish do provide omega-3 fats, that accounts for only 15-20% of the total fat in fish. Our oceans are also a dumping ground for much of the world's toxins, which accumulate the higher you go on the food chain. Eating fish, you risk eating concentrated sources of these toxins. A 2012 review of 20 studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that fish oil had no effect on prevention of heart attack, stroke, or heart-related deaths. There are safer and more environmentally friendly alternatives to get the correct amount of Omega fats into your body either through a raw food diet that includes nuts and seeds, plant based supplements such as cold pressed plant oils that have the correct ratio of Omega 3's to 6's that your body needs. When compared with a vegetarian diet, a recent study showed that the Mediterranean d...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news