Following a Mediterranean diet with extra nuts or olive oil is significantly better for heart health than a low-fat diet, according to a “landmark” clinical trial from Spain reported by www.foodnavigator-usa.com.

“The results to date make us believe, long term, that the Mediterranean diet enriched with walnuts or olive oil will indeed reduce heart disease. The size, duration and clinical basis of this study make it landmark,” said researcher Emilio Ros of the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona.

He added that the previous results on Med diets and heart health were merely “scattered pieces of evidence from prospective studies.”

The PREDIMED study, results of which are in the Annals of Internal Medicine, recruited 772 adults at high risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and divided the volunteers into three groups. One group (257 subjects) was assigned to a low-fat diet and the other two groups to a Mediterranean diet.

One Med diet group was given additional free virgin olive oil (one litre per week). The second Med diet group was given additional nuts (30 grams per day).

Measurements and outcome changes were evaluated every three months. Almost 100 per cent of the participants completed the four-year trial.

Compared to the low-fat diet subjects, those on the two Mediterranean diets experienced significant benefits in terms of lower plasma glucose levels, systolic blood pressure and ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol.

“We expect it (Mediterranean diet supplement with olive oil or walnuts) to reduce the rate of heart attacks and strokes and other cardiovascular diseases by 50 per cent,” the lead researcher said.