Eating plenty of vegetables, nuts and olive oil is more effective than drugs such as statins in treating heart disease, an “extraordinary” study suggests.
Patients who stuck to a Mediterranean diet were a third less likely to die early than those who preferred red meat and butter, Italian researchers found. As the findings were reported, the NHS was urged to subsidise fruit and vegetables and start prescribing healthy eating to millions of people with heart trouble.
A diet rich in fish and fruit has long been known to be good for the heart, but the latest results are the first to show that Mediterranean eating patterns could prevent deaths, even in those who are already ill.
Giovanni de Gaetano, of the IRCCS Neuromed Institute in