The basics of healthy eating are pretty simple: lots of fresh fruit and vegetables of all sorts of colors. The Mediterranean diet harnesses those basics and incorporates them into one simple and fun diet. The diet is styled after traditional cooking of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Along with fresh fruits and vegetables, the diet incorporates olive oil and even red wine.
The Mediterranean diet is shown to reduce the risk of heart disease. Nearly 1.5 million Americans following the diet found a reduce risk of death from heart disease, cancer, and reduced incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. With the Mediterranean diet’s primary focus of fruits and vegetables, it may help to reduce pain symptoms as well.
At Southwest Spine and Pain Center, our compassionate and professional medical team is consistently looking for ways our patients can manage their pain at home. One of the easiest and most fun ways to reduce pain is to alter your diet. A diet consisting of ant-inflammatory fruits and vegetables can help relieve pain and other symptoms associated with common pain conditions.
The New England Journal of Medicine published a study that found the Mediterranean diet an advocate of cardiovascular disease prevention. The researchers, lead by Dr. Ramon Estruch, professor of medicine at the University of Barcelona, found that people ages 55-80 who participated in the diet (including plenty of vegetables, fruit, fish, buts, and olive oil) were at a lower risk of heart disease than individuals on a common low-fat diet. Nearly 30 percent of heart attacks, strokes, and deaths can be prevented in people who are at high risk for heart disease by switching to the Mediterranean diet.
While showcasing the beneficial evidence from the study, researchers also concluded that low-fat diets proved to be unhelpful and hard for participants to maintain.
The researchers found that the diet’s positive results were due to the entire package, not just the olive oil and nuts. Dr. Estruch and his team found that while it certainly reduce the risk of heart disease for patients at high risk, it was inconclusive for people at low risk. Further investigation is in the works to uncover the Mediterranean diet’s seemingly perfected features.
If chronic pain is impacting your life, don't wait to schedule an appointment at Southwest Spine and Pain Center. With four locations and same day appointments, the pain management specialists at Southwest Spine and Pain Center are dedicated to helping those who suffer from chronic pain live the life they want to! To schedule an appointment, visit our locations tab!
The advice and information contained in this article is for educational purposes only, and is not intended to replace or counter a physician’s advice or judgment. Please always consult your physician before taking any advice learned here or in any other educational medical material.
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