The Spanish trial, which included nearly 7,450 volunteers between the ages of 55 and 80, began in 2003 and was stopped early for ethical reasons, in 2011, as the control group was deemed to be at a dangerous disadvantage. The participants had all been diagnosed with high risk of cardiovascular disease, but were asymptomatic at the outset of the study. Participants were followed for a median of 4.8 years.
The volunteers were randomly divided into three groups (two intervention groups and one control):
There were no calorie restrictions for any of the groups, nor was physical activity promoted or required. Compliance with olive oil and nut consumption was tested via blood and urine analysis. The primary end point was a composite of myocardial infarction, stroke, and death from cardiovascular causes. Secondary end points were stroke, myocardial infarction, death from cardiovascular causes, and death from any cause.
- Mediterranean diet rich in fresh vegetables, seafood, mono-unsaturated fats, supplemented with 30 grams of nuts per day (15 grams walnuts, 7.5 grams almonds, and 7.5 grams hazelnuts)
- Mediterranean diet (as above) supplemented with 50 ml of virgin olive oil per day instead of nuts
- Low-fat diet (control)
Remarkably, in less than five years, the two intervention groups achieved a 30 percent relative risk reduction for cardiovascular disease, and stroke reduction was an impressive 49 percent.
No wonder they felt the trial had to be stopped for ethical reasons! Sadly, low-fat diets are among the most accepted diets in the medical community, both for weight management and cardiac health, and have been aggressively promoted for the past 60 years. Now the evidence is showing this is perhaps the worst type of diet one could consume. There’s just no telling how many millions of people have prematurely died from this fatally flawed advice. According to the authors:2
“In observational cohort studies and a secondary prevention trial (the Lyon Diet Heart Study), increasing adherence to the Mediterranean diet has been consistently beneficial with respect to cardiovascular risk. A systematic review ranked the Mediterranean diet as the most likely dietary model to provide protection against coronary heart disease. Small clinical trials have uncovered plausible biologic mechanisms to explain the salutary effects of this food pattern.We designed a randomized trial to test the efficacy of two Mediterranean diets (one supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil and another with nuts), as compared with a control diet (advice on a low-fat diet), on primary cardiovascular prevention...Our findings are consistent with those of prior observational studies of the cardiovascular protective effects of the Mediterranean diet, olive oil, and nuts; smaller trials assessing effects on traditional cardiovascular risk factors and novel risk factors, such as markers of oxidation, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction; and studies of conditions associated with high cardiovascular risk — namely, the metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Thus, a causal role of the Mediterranean diet in cardiovascular prevention has high biologic plausibility....The risk of stroke was reduced significantly in the two Mediterranean-diet groups. This is consistent with epidemiologic studies that showed an inverse association between the Mediterranean diet or olive-oil consumption and incident stroke.”
When Will Government Alter its Dangerous Dietary Guidelines?
The single-blind, randomized clinical trial was published online at the end of February in the New England Journal of Medicine.3 It is perhaps one of the strongest validations of my optimized Nutritional Plan so far, which calls for high amounts of healthful raw fats, including omega-3, modest high-quality animal protein, and restriction of carbohydrates to high-fiber vegetables — all from fresh whole foods, as opposed to processed. During his presentation at the 6th International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition at Loma Linda University in California, Mayo Professor David Jacobs, PhD, called for nutrition researchers to focus on food and dietary patterns instead of isolated nutrients.
“What this study gives us is A-level evidence,” he said. “The US Dietary Guidelines Committee will notice that.”4Another interesting tidbit is the fact that calories per se did not account for the benefits. Those in the extra virgin olive oil group consumed an average of 2,172 calories a day and those supplementing with nuts ate 2,229 calories per day, whereas the control group consumed only 1,960 calories a day. Yet, despite consuming more calories, and far more fat, the intervention groups reduced cardiovascular disease and stroke risk by 30 and 49 percent respectively.
This is precisely what I’ve been telling my readers for years: Eating fat does NOT make you fat! Eating sugar and grains does... As explained by Dr. Robert Lustig, fructose in particular is "isocaloric but not isometabolic." This means you can have the same amount of calories from fructose or glucose, fructose and protein, or fructose and fat, but the metabolic effect will be entirely different despite the identical calorie count. Many governments around the world have been pushing low-fat diet recommendations5 that have been causing death and disease for decades. How quickly will they admit their error and failure and make the necessary changes? Only time will tell...
Healthy Fat Guidelines
Sources of healthy fats include:
Olives and Olive oil Coconuts and coconut oil Butter made from raw grass-fed organic milk Raw nuts, such as, almonds or pecans Organic pastured egg yolks Avocados Grass-fed meats Palm oil Unheated organic nut oils
Another healthful fat you want to be mindful of is animal-based omega-3. Deficiency in this essential fat can cause or contribute to very serious health problems, both mental and physical, and may be a significant underlying factor of up to 96,000 premature deaths each year. For more information about omega-3's and the best sources of this fat, please review this previous article. It will also be crucial to eliminate any trans fats, which are loaded in virtually all bakery goods and most processed foods. Trans fats embed themselves into your cell membranes and disrupt key metabolic functions. They are pernicious poisons and ideally your consumption of them should be zero.
