I’m constantly amazed at how many times supposed “experts” trot out this diet as being healthy for anything. In Ancel Keys studies, after 15 years of observation, it was obvious in 1984 that only the Mediterranean villages of Crete and Corfu had a better chance of surviving death from any cause than US Railroad workers. All of the other so-called healthy diets lagged behind, including that of the Japanese.
Today we are told that this diet may (and the operative word being “may”) cut diabetes risk. Most diabetics die of heart disease, so if this is true, why didn’t this diet help the progenitor of the diet, Dr. Gifford? He had clogged arteries and died of heart disease prior to age 74.
As Jennifer LaRue Huget of the Washington Post wrote, “The olive oil- and veggie-filled Mediterranean diet is supposed to help ward off Alzheimer’s disease, colon cancer and, yes, heart disease. If a man who adhered to the diet considered by many experts to be the most healthful succumbs before he hits 75, how much stock can we put in it?”
In fact, I just saw a study yesterday and shows that the association between red meat and colon cancer doesn’t hold up very well. I had trouble downloading it, but once I get it, I will dissect it and share it with you. And yes, it’s peer-reviewed in the American Journal of Clinical Medicine.
Researchers led by Jordi Salas-Salvado of the University of Rovira i Virgili in Reus, Spain, followed 418 adults between the ages of 55 and 80, each of whom had at least three risk factors for heart disease such as high blood pressure or smoking.
They were randomly assigned to one of three diets: a Mediterranean diet with emphasis on more consumption of olive oil, the same diet with a focus on getting unsaturated fats from nuts, and a diet cutting all types of fat. None of the groups were told to limit calories or get more exercise. After four years, 10 to 11 percent of those in the two Mediterranean groups had developed diabetes, compared to 18 percent of those in the low-fat diet group.
Again, we’re playing the percentage game. Do you really believe there is much difference between 11 percent versus 18 percent when we’re only talking about 418 people? Seriously? If they say that there was a 52 percent reduction — that means that some 200 people still developed diabetes and a little over 200 did not. Are these the odds you want to play?
Read this closely: Diabetes is completely preventable. Restrict your consumption of carbohydrate foods and you will not have to fear diabetes at all. If these Mediterranean-based plans work it’s only because the individuals on them eat less carbohydrates than others on the same plan. The principle fat in red meat, eggs and bacon is monounsaturated fat just like olive oil. The implications are almost impossible to believe after decades of public health recommendations suggesting that any red meat consumed should at least be lean with any excess fat removed.
Yet, it remains true. Again, restrict your consumption of carbohydrate foods severely and you will not have to fear diabetes at all. How much clearer can I be?