Walnut Growers Excited by Study

SACRAMENTO - Jul 6/06 - SNS -- Walnut growers in California are excited by a study published in the July 4 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine because early results indicate the so-called Mediterranean diet may reduce the risks of heart attack and cardiovascular disease by up to one half.

In an article entitled "Effects of a Mediterranean-Style Diet on Cardiovascular Risk Factors," researchers note that high risk participants who improved their diet with vegetables, legumes, olive oil or nuts, especially walnuts, showed lower blood pressure, improved lipid profiles, decreased insulin resistance and reduced concentrations of inflammatory molecules compared with those allocated to a low-fat diet (American Heart Association guidelines).

"The early results of this clinical trial indicate that the Mediterranean diet pattern is ideal for cardiovascular disease prevention. What we knew before was scattered pieces of evidence from prospective studies. The primary endpoint of this long-term study will be a composite outcome of cardiovascular events (cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and stroke).

"The results to date make us believe, long term, the Mediterranean diet enriched with walnuts or olive oil will indeed reduce heart disease. The size, duration and clinical basis of this study make it landmark," said Dr. Emilio Ros, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, and PREDIMED study co-investigator.

The investigators of this 4-year clinical study being conducted under the sponsorship of the Spanish Ministry of Health reviewed the effects of the diet on almost 800 men and women aged 55 to 80 years. Each participant had either diabetes or three or more cardiovascular risk factors: family history of early-onset heart disease, excessive weight, smoking, hypertension, or high blood cholesterol levels. Researchers maintain that the early results of this clinical trial suggest that the Mediterranean diet pattern is ideal for cardiovascular disease reduction.

Carried out by primary care doctors affiliated with 10 teaching hospitals across Spain, the Prevencion con Dieta Mediterranea (PREDIMED) study is a large, parallel-group, multicenter, randomized, controlled four-year feeding trial that aims to assess the effects of the Mediterranean diet on the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.