Mediterranean Diet Improves Long-Term Outlook For Heart Attack Patients

May 19, 2010: 09:16 PM EST

The Mediterranean diet rich in fruits and vegetables, nuts, vegetable oils, low-fat dairy products, legumes, whole grains, and fish has a beneficial effect on the heart and improves the long-term outlook for heart attack patients, Greek researchers have found. Scientists examined data on 1,000 heart attack or heart pain patients, paying attention to how closely their eating habits followed a Mediterranean diet. Though about half the patients suffered an acute coronary event within 24 months, those on the Mediterranean diet had a 31 percent lower risk of a repeat problem. The researchers found that people who ate vegetables and salad or nuts especially every day lowered their risk of a repeated heart attack or chest pain within two years compared to patients who ate these foods less often.

Christina Chrysohoou, Demosthenes B Panagiotakos, Panagiotis Aggelopoulos, Christina-Maria Kastorini, Ioanna Kehagia, Christos Pitsavos and Christodoulos Stefanadis, "The Mediterranean diet contributes to the preservation of left ventricular systolic function and to the long-term favorable prognosis of patients who have had an acute coronary event", The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, May 19, 2010, © American Society for Nutrition

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