When it comes to heart conditions, many people still believe a low-fat diet is best. They may be willing to reduce carbohydrates to achieve their weight goals, but proactively add high-fat foods? That’s a step too far. For them, the low-fat dogma taught decades ago is just too hard to shake. This summer’s shocking Mediterranean diet study may be just what they need to be convinced that fats are good for your heart.
Here are the highlights of the study, what you need to know about the Mediterranean diet, and how you can best implement it for optimal health, weight, and youthfulness.
Summer’s Shocking Mediterranean Diet Study
This summer’s Mediterranean diet study was published in The Lancet in May 2022 (1). However, it actually started over a decade ago. In 2009, researchers took 1002 participants who had diagnosed coronary artery disease (plaque buildup in the heart’s arteries), including 827 men and 175 women, and divided them into two groups.
Group 1, which consisted of 502 participants, ate a Mediterranean diet. If this is unfamiliar to you, a traditional Mediterranean diet emphasizes foods high in monounsaturated fats — particularly olive oil and nuts — along with legumes, whole grains, poultry, and fatty fish. It also encourages high amounts of fruits and vegetables.
Group 2 ate a low-fat diet. This means they actively minimized high-fat foods including those considered unhealthy fats AND healthy fats. Their diets encouraged lean versions of fish and poultry, and more calories per day from carbohydrates, particularly whole grains, legumes, and potatoes.
The results? For those who’ve held strongly to the low-fat recommendations of former decades, the results are shocking.
Mediterranean Diet Study Results
After 7 years of following their assigned diets, the participants were once again tested for coronary heart disease markers.
The Mediterranean diet group had a 26% lower risk of having a heart attack or stroke, compared with people in the low-fat group. The researchers concluded that the Mediterranean diet was superior to the low-fat diet in preventing major cardiovascular events in secondary prevention.
Of course, this is not the first study that clearly shows the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. Study after study has shown that the Mediterranean diet is effective in reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and overall mortality. Much of the research has found that it supports healthy reductions in inflammation, blood sugar, and body mass index (2, 3, 4).
Dr. Colbert’s Beyond Keto – The Most Effective Mediterranean Diet Plan
If you’re looking for a great way to take these shocking results and make a healthy Mediterranean diet your eating lifestyle, look no further than Dr. Colbert’s Beyond Keto!
Dr. Colbert’s Beyond Keto is a revolutionary new approach that combines the best of the Keto Zone™ Diet with the Mediterranean Diet to support healthy weight, gut health, brain health, reduced inflammation, healthy aging, and more (5).
Specifically, it encourages:
- A Healthy Weight: Almost all current negative health conditions are linked to, or exacerbated by, obesity (6). By utilizing healthy ketogenic diet principles, Beyond Keto promotes healthy changes and outcomes as soon as the first two weeks (7)! In addition, the Mediterranean diet component continues to support healthy weight and healthy body composition. Its focus on lean proteins, seafoods, healthy oils, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, and vegetables provide a wonderful well-balanced, satisfying dietary lifestyle to maintain a healthy weight (8).
- Energy, Vitality, and Mental Focus: One of the greatest benefits of the ketogenic diet is the production of ketones. Ketones are natural energizing compounds that support healthy mental focus and vitality. The Mediterranean diet also encourages great energy and vitality with the abundant variety of healthy foods. Rather than experiencing the ups and downs of a high-sugar diet, you will enjoy steady, youthful energy from delicious, colorful whole foods.
- Optimal Blood Sugars and Metabolism: An amazing aspect of both the ketogenic diet and the Mediterranean diet normalized blood sugars. By using both eating styles in Beyond Keto, you’ll remove harmful refined starches while focusing on healthy fats, high fiber beans, peas, lentils, vegetables, lean protein and low glycemic fruits such as berries. Part of the improvement comes from weight loss. The other part comes from a diet that supports healthy metabolism and hormones (9).
- Healthy Cholesterol, Triglyceride, and Blood Pressure Levels. Both the Keto Zone and Mediterranean diet aspects of Beyond Keto support heart health. First, Beyond Keto promotes a healthy weight, which can help optimize heart health. Next, by choosing the incredibly heart-healthy foods in the Mediterranean diet, you can continue to encourage great heart health In fact, the foods in the Mediterranean diet and Beyond Keto work to support heart health, healthy cholesterol, and achieve whole-body health (10).
- Natural Unprocessed Foods Full of Antioxidants and Anti-Inflammatory Compounds. One of the worst dietary habits plaguing humans worldwide is the consumption of ultra-processed foods. In fact, researchers have found that ultra-processed foods are linked to most modern health conditions and even overall risk of death (11)! Thankfully, you’ll eat healthy, high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory foods rather than ultra-processed ones (12).
- Healthy Gut Microbiota. Amazingly, Beyond Keto combines Keto Zone and Mediterranean foods to support gut health! This is great news for the millions of people who suffer from less-than-optimal gut function. In fact, studies have found the Mediterranean diet specifically improves gut microbiota and its associated metabolism functions. The diet’s prebiotics from healthy fibers along with healthy fats and polyphenols support gut health, hormone balance, and metabolism (13).
All in all, Dr. Colbert’s Beyond Keto is a wonderful eating lifestyle full of delicious foods that will help you achieve great health and your weight goals.
Bottom Line
This summer, take this Mediterranean diet study, its results, and run with them. Choose a healthy lifestyle that’s full of healthy fats, vegetables, proteins and very few processed foods. It’s a great time to support your heart health, brain health, and whole-body health with Dr. Colbert’s Beyond Keto!
