Dear Friends and Valued Customers:

Over the last two decades, a lot has been written about the health benefits of the "Mediterranean diet," which is rich in fish, nuts, vegetables and fruits and low in saturated fats and cholesterol. Inspired by the traditional dietary patterns of Spain, Greece and Southern Italy, the diet was popularized in the west by the American scientist Ancel Benjamin Keys, a pioneer in nutrition and human physiology who was one of the first to make the connection between cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. Keys noted that there were an unusually high number of people in Southern Italy who lived to be 100 years of age or more. He hypothesized that a Mediterranean-style diet protected against heart disease and that a diet high in animal fats led to heart disease. Putting his theory into practice, Keys became a strong advocate of the Mediterranean diet for the remainder of his life, which ended just two months shy of his 101st birthday.

In the decades since Keys first brought it to the rest of the world's attention, the Mediterranean diet has been shown in a number of studies to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD); however, most of these studies have been conducted among Mediterranean populations or older people with existing health conditions. Now a new study led by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health gives us strong evidence that the diet can dramatically reduce the CVD risk in healthy young adults on this side of the Atlantic as well. The study followed the diet patterns of 780 male firefighters in the Midwest and found that greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet dramatically reduced the incidence of metabolic syndrome, a grouping of risk factors (high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood sugar and central obesity) that increase the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease or type II diabetes. My first report has more details.

In addition to its being lower in saturated fats and cholesterol, nutritionists believe many of the benefits of the Mediterranean diet stem from its rich olive oil content. In the past, the benefits of olive oil consumption have been attributed primarily to its oleic acid content. Now, new animal research suggests an important role for another olive oil constituent: hydroxytyrosol. Chinese researchers found that when mice fed a high-fat diet were given supplemental hydroxytyrosol, it protected against many of the usual manifestations of metabolic syndrome. If these findings stand up in human studies, it could mean that people who have trouble adhering to a Mediterranean-style diet may be able to gain some of its benefits by adding a daily hydroxytyrosol supplement to their nutritional regimen. Read my second report to find out more.

SwansonHealthProducts@e.swanson-vitamins.com

Finishing up this week we have new research that may put a positive spin on some of the cold weather we've been getting lately: it may help you lose weight. In a study conducted at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, researchers found that colder temperatures increased the activity of brown adipose tissue (aka "brown fat") resulting in more calories being burned to maintain body heat through a process known as cold-induced thermogenesis. My final report has the details.

As always, I wish you the very best of health.

Lee Swanson