This document provides an overview of research on the health benefits of following a Mediterranean diet. It summarizes research showing that a Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer's; promote weight loss and cognitive function; increase life expectancy; and benefit pregnancy outcomes and the environment. The Mediterranean diet emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, olive oil, fish, and poultry while limiting red meat and dairy foods.

1. Mediterranean Harvest For Life®
RESEARCH SUMMARY
Evidence-Based Nutrition In Healthcare
®

2. Mediterranean Harvest For Life® (MHFL) Will Deliver
Evidence-Based Nutrition In Healthcare Plus Other Societal Impacts
Reduce Food Costs For The Poor… Improve The Environment…
Enable Weight Loss… Extend Lifespans…Avert Chronic Illnesses…
And More:
Diabetes
Longer Life
Weight
Loss
Clogged Arteries
Heart Health
BloodPressure
Cancers
Consider All The Impacts Documented In
Longitudinal And Other Scientific Research!
Fertility
& Birth
Defects
1945;
Updated
Methane
& Nitrous
Oxide
Reduction
‘
COPD
®
®
MHFL provided exhaustive research summaries to USDA’s Nutrition Evidence Library. Chronic diseases affect 45% of the U. S. (133 million cases) and account for 81% of hospitalizations; 91% of prescriptions;
76% of physician visits -- and the problem continues to grow. Of all Medicare spending, 99% is for chronic disease.
Source: Improving Patient and Health System Outcomes through Advanced Pharmacy Practice A Report to the U.S. Surgeon General 2011
Cut Food Costs
And Pantry
Dependence
For The Poor
Cognitive
Function

3. Eleven senior doctors presented a compelling
appeal to Prime Minister David Cameron, insisting
that it’s time for Mediterranean-style eating to be
placed at the forefront of health policy.
“The evidence base for the Mediterranean diet
in preventing all of the chronic diseases that are
plaguing the Western world is overwhelming,”
says Dr. Richard Hoffman, one of the lead authors
of a letter to Cameron.
http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/doctors-say-eating-mediterranean-diet-best-way-prevent-chronic-
illness.html
Top Doctors Appealed to Great Britain’s David Cameron to Advocate
Mediterranean-Style Eating as Health Policy to Prevent Chronic Illnesses

4. Mediterranean-Style Eating = Weight Loss & More
Researchers believed Mediterranean-style eating might help people maintain a healthy
weight and avoid health problems related to obesity, and they sought to confirm this.
Their conclusion: The greater the adherence to the Mediterranean style of eating, the
lower the participant’s body mass index and the lower the risk of becoming obese. The
study affirmed that the Mediterranean style of eating is a healthy way to eat and
contains essential nutrients in healthy quantities that can help a person avoid
becoming obese.
In a Brigham and Woman’s Hospital comparative study of 61 overweight people who
consumed one of two diets -- a low-fat diet or Mediterranean-diet – Mediterranean
won out for stick-to-it-tiveness. After 6 months, both groups saw similar weight loss,
but after month 12, a large number of the Mediterranean group stuck with the diet
and maintained their weight loss. Conversely, many on the low-fat diet couldn't stick
with it and not only regained their lost weight, but weighed more than before the
study began.
Importantly, related to weight loss or lack there of: Johns Hopkins’ researchers
indicated swapping out certain foods can improve heart health in those at risk for
cardiovascular disease, even if the dietary changes aren’t coupled with weight loss.
Weight
Loss
“Greater adherence to
the Mediterranean
diet was associated
with a 51% lower
odds of being obese
and a 59% lower odds
of having central
obesity,” wrote lead
author Panagiotakos.

5. Mediterranean-Style Eating Improves Heart Health
Heart disease is the #1 killer of men and women in the United States, but Mario
Negri Research institute reported the Mediterranean diet halves the risk of heart
attacks plus reduces incidence of high blood pressure and strokes. Also, adhering
to a Mediterranean diet can improve heart health by 80%, according researchers
at University of Granada, Spain.
Women sticking closest to the Mediterranean style of eating had 40% less risk of
sudden cardiac death than those women whose diets least matched a Mediterranean
style, according to a Brigham and Woman’s Hospital study published in the Journal
of the American Medical Association.
In a similar study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 64th Annual
Scientific Session, those who scored in the top-third in terms of adherence to the
Mediterranean diet, were 47 percent less likely to develop heart disease over the 10-
year follow-up period compared to participants in the bottom-third of compliance,
A relatively new factor may be a more important cause of heart attacks than
artery-damaging cholesterol: C-reactive protein, or CRP, a blood-borne marker
of inflammation that, along with coagulation factors, is now increasingly recognized
as the factor behind clots that block blood flow to the heart. Yet patients are seldom
tested for CRP, even if they already have heart problems. The good news: there’s
newly discovered merit in Mediterranean eating helping avert this issue. (NYT, 1/13/09)
The 1988 Lyon Diet Heart Study compared effects of Mediterranean-style diet with one
the American Heart Association recommended at the time for patients who survived a
first heart attack. The comparison indicated that within four years, the Mediterranean
approach cut rates of heart disease recurrence and cardiac death by 50% to 70% versus
the prudent low-fat diet that had been recommended for heart patients. Study results
were so compelling, the 5-year comparison was ended in year 4 for ethical reasons.
Those in the top-third of
adherence to a
Mediterranean diet, were
47% less likely to develop
heart disease over a 10-
year follow-up period vs.
participants in the
bottom-third of
compliance.
Heart Health

6. Mediterranean-Style Eating Helps Address Diabetes
Those who ate a diet rich in vegetables and whole grains with at least 30% of daily calories from fat
(mostly olive oil) were better able to manage without diabetes medications than those who ate
a low-fat diet with no more than 30% of calories from fat (with less than 10% from saturated fat).
The Mediterranean diet may help with type 2 diabetes prevention due to the time it takes for the body
to process foods in the diet, notes Dr. Fedon Lindberg, a Norwegian endocrinologist who’s treated over
18,000 diabetics. "My experience with type 2 diabetic patients is that a balanced low-glycemic diet coupled
with a healthy lifestyle can reverse the disease. We have had many patients coming to us who were injecting
high doses of insulin, as many as 200 units daily, who have managed to quit insulin and come off medications
for blood pressure and other conditions.” Dr. Lindberg's uses Mediterranean-diet of unprocessed food such as
fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. It also entails olive oil, so the diet contains more fat than the conventional
weight-loss diet. “Within eight months of following Lindberg's recommendations, I stopped taking insulin…
my blood sugar is normal,” noted a registered nurse who is one of Lindberg’s patients.
This is important, as W.H.O. predicts type 2 diabetes will likely double in 15 years if our unhealthy
diets continue.
DiabetesThose who adhered to the Mediterranean diet most strictly
enjoyed a relative reduction of 83% in the risk of diabetes,
according to researchers at the University of Navarra, Spain.
Scientists at Second University of Naples, Italy found adhering to
a Mediterranean diet may help prevent development of type 2
diabetes and improve blood sugar control in type 2 diabetics.

7. Mediterranean-Style Eating Helps Avert Cancer
Researchers concluded “that adherence to the traditional Mediterranean diet
is associated with markedly and significantly reduced incidence of overall cancer”
In particular, changing key aspects of a person’s diet -- such as using olive oil
instead of butter and reducing red meats while upping beans, lentils, peas --
could reduce overall risk of developing cancer 12%. (U. Athens Medical School)
Both epidemiological and lab studies have shown Mediterranean diet has a protective
effect against biochemical and molecular processes that lead to cancer, cardiovascular
disease and respiratory illness. Estimated 30–40 percent of all cancers can be prevented
by appropriate diets, physical activity, and maintenance of appropriate body weight.
(Khan (2011) Cancer Prevention Through Employ of Diet)
Up to 25% of the incidence of colorectal cancer, 15% of breast cancer, and 10% of prostate
cancer could be prevented if populations of developed western countries would shift to
the traditional healthy Mediterranean diet, according to a study in Cancer Epidemiology.
Olive oil may help to prevent damage to cells that can lead to cancer, according
a study from Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark, as it can reduce oxidative
damage to cells' genetic material, which can initiate cancer development. Women
whose diet included large amounts of olive oil reduced their risk of ovarian cancer
by 30% (Reported in Cancer Causes and Control.)
The Lyon Diet Heart Study led researchers to conclude a Mediterranean diet
also reduced the risk of cancer. Compared to an American Heart Association diet,
those on the Mediterranean diet had 61% fewer cancers diagnosed.
Patients eating
Mediterranean had
less than half the
new cases of
cancer, death rate
(from all causes)
was about half.
(Archive of Int. Medicine:
Mediterranean diet in
randomized trial)
Cancers

8. Mediterranean-Style Eating Clears Arteries
And Can Improve Cholesterol
What’s the recipe for healthier blood vessels in just eight weeks? Start with a
Mediterranean-style diet. Then add regular exercise. Your blood vessels will likely
be healthier in just eight weeks! These dramatic findings were released during an
American Heart Association Conference in 2005. Doctors indicated the impact of
Mediterranean eating can be rapid. After just eight weeks, Mediterranean style
eating can help arteries become more elastic. After three months, heart disease
risk can drop 15%.
University of Navarra research concluded, “a modification in the entire diet pattern (to Mediterranean-style
eating) managed to achieve, in just one year, results that pharmaceutical drugs did not – even after two years
of treatment.” For those who had suffered the greatest thickening due to arteriosclerosis, a significant
improvement and regression of lesions occurred in those cases that had followed a Mediterranean diet.
A key component of the so-called “Mediterranean diet,” olive oil may help protect against strokes caused
by blocked arteries. French researchers report that people who used the most olive oil for cooking and salad
dressings were 41% less likely to suffer an ischemic stroke.
Business Week, 1/17/08, noted widespread use of statins costs billions of dollars annually, yet research
suggests that, except among high-risk heart patients, the benefits of statins are overstated. The article
underscores that since health-care dollars are limited, our resources should be going to interventions that
would be of greatest benefit, as noted by Dr. Beatrice Golomb, an associate professor of medicine at the
University of California at San Diego School of Medicine. The article asks, “What would work better than
statins? Perhaps urging people to switch to a Mediterranean diet.”
Clogged Arteries

9. Mediterranean-Style Eating Improves Blood Pressure
Research results suggest that adhering to a Mediterranean-type diet could contribute
to the prevention of age-related changes in blood pressure, according to a dynamic
Spanish prospective cohort study conducted during 1999-2005.
Adhering to Mediterranean-style eating may improve vascular health and reduce the
risk of hypertension, according to a study published in the European Journal Of Clinical
Nutrition.
Scientists at the University of Athens Medical School in Greece found individuals
adhering to the Mediterranean diet had lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure
than individuals who did not, as published in "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,“
2004.
BloodPressure

10. Mediterranean-Style Eating Cuts Risk Of Deadly
COPD In Half; Even Cuts Risk Of Death Among Smokers
Mediterranean-style” diet can reduce your risk of deadly chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by half, according to researchers
at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Mediterranean-style eating was found to even help offset some
of the adverse impacts of smoking. University of Cambridge
researchers found that participants who were smokers but were not
overweight nearly halved their risk of death when they closely
followed the Mediterranean style of eating.
Researchers explained that smokers may have had the most to gain
from the antioxidant and blood fat-lowering effects of Mediterranean-
style eating.
COPD

11. Mediterranean-Style Eating Cuts Risk Of Alzheimer’s Disease,
Parkinson’s Disease And Cognitive Impairment
Participants who scored in the upper third for participation in a Mediterranean diet
were found to have a 60% lower risk of Alzheimer's disease vs. people not on the diet,
according to a study by Dr. Scarmeas in Archives of Neurology).
Similarly, people who followed the Mediterranean diet most closely had a 40% lower
risk of Alzheimer’s than those with the lowest adherence, according to a study published
in Annals of Neurology. Which is important, as most treatment appears ineffective,
according to a study in Science indicating the road to effective Alzheimer's treatment is
littered with failures.
Mediterranean-eating can cut the risk of Parkinson’s disease nearly in half according to
researchers at University of Tokyo published in the European Journal of Neurology (ANI).
Researchers found that healthy eating habits slashed the risk of the incurable brain
disorder by up to 46%.
In a study of New Yorkers, those sticking closest to a Mediterranean-eating were 28%
less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment than those with lowest adherence.
In a study comparing eating habits and mental abilities of older Chicagoans, those who
stuck most closely to a Mediterranean-style diet saw a slower rate of cognitive decline
with aging. People who ate most like Mediterraneans had brains that functioned as if
they were several years younger, according to Rush University Medical Center research.

12. Mediterranean-Style Eating Yields Healthier Babies
• Thinking of conceiving? Women who eat a Mediterranean-style
diet boost their chances of getting pregnant, according to a Spanish
study. Those who ate a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish and
whole grains enjoyed increased fertility.
• Researchers believe the Mediterranean diet could be the reason
France has the lowest birth defect incidence rate in the world,
according to a March Of Dimes comprehensive study on the global
burden of birth defects.
• Researchers say that birth defects like brain and spine problems --
called neural tube defects -- as well as cleft lip and cleft palate,
were less common in mothers who closely followed either a
Mediterranean diet or the food guide pyramid.
• A paper published in Thorax found that women who followed the
diet while pregnant may also protect their baby from childhood
asthma and allergy.
• et
Fertility
& Birth
Defects

13. Mediterranean-Style Eating Can Add Years
To Your Life – Even If You Start Later In Life
• et
Those who adhere to the Mediterranean style of eating --- when combined
with exercise, not smoking and maintaining a healthy weight – could
potentially add eight to 15 years to their lives when compared to those living
an unhealthy lifestyle, according to researchers at Maastricht University in the
Netherlands. Depending on when they engage, women can benefit most, as
they can potentially live an extra 15 years when compared to those engaged in
“least healthy” lifestyles, while men can potentially live eight additional years.
Seniors take note: Eat Mediterranean-style, and you could gain 3 years of extra
life, even if you begin the process in your later years. That wonderful conclusion
is based on a scientific study of 1,200 people over 70. Those who followed
Mediterranean style eating tended to live two to three years longer than those
who didn’t, according to scientists from Sweden’s University of Gothenburg.
Longer Life

14. Mediterranean-Style Eating Also Improves The Environment
"We should think more about our high meat consumption," said Andreas Troge, head of
Germany's Federal Environmental Agency. "I recommend a return to Sunday roasts and an
orientation on Mediterranean eating habits," adding such a lifestyle change was good for
one's health plus reduces carbon footprint.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, Unit on Climate Change, "There
is a strong link between human diet and methane emissions from livestock." According
to Dr. Pachauri, head of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change, "the most
attractive" near-term solution (to adverse climate change) is for everyone to simply
"reduce meat consumption", a change, he says, that would have more impact
than switching to a hybrid-energy car.
According to another United Nations report, cattle-rearing generates more global warming
greenhouse gases, as measured in CO2 equivalent, than transportation. "Livestock are one of
the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems, "senior
U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) official Henning Steinfeld said. Cattle-rearing
is also a major source of land and water degradation, according to the FAO report.
"The environmental costs per unit of livestock production must be cut by one half,
just to avoid the level of damage worsening beyond its present level," it warns.
However, the agency warns that meat consumption is set to double by the middle
of the century, due to increased global prosperity.
Methane
Reduction
Experts believe that
droughts and floods
that impact global
food supply, food
security and pricing
-- which can result in
starvation, migration
and conflict -- can be
reduced by reducing
methane; and
Mediterranean-style
eating can make a
huge, rapid impact.

15. Mediterranean-Style Eating Can Help The Poor Reduce Food Costs,
Reduce Dependence On Pantries And Improve Health
Mediterranean diet can cut food costs and improve food security --
including among people who rely on food banks for groceries,
a new study suggests.
People who were educated about how to eat, cook and abide
by the Mediterranean diet experienced decreases in grocery bills,
decreases in reliance on food pantries, increases in produce
consumption, and reduction in weight, according to researchers
from The Miriam Hospital and the Rhode Island Community
Food Bank.
Participants bought fewer and fewer sodas, desserts, snacks
and meat, and more and more veggies and fruits. They also
recorded weight loss.
BIG SOCIETAL IMPACTS
"Not only did (Mediterranean
eating) study participants cut
their food spending by more
than half, saving nearly $40
per week, the reliance on a
food pantry decreased as
well, from 68% to 54%...”
Reduce
Food Cost
& Food Pantry
Dependence
For The Poor

16. Why advocate Mediterranean-style eating among all the “diets”?
Research indicates that promoting the merits of Mediterranean-style eating
actually will affect a change toward healthier living,1 -- something that’s
not happened historically with any other “diet” despite our $40 billion+
annual spending on diets overall.
Amid all the “diet” confusion, Mediterranean-style eating is the only dietary regimen
with longitudinal research proving how food functionality helps to address chronic
illness and extend lifespans.
➢ The unique functionality of the combination of foods in Mediterranean-style eating – extra virgin
olive oil, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbs, fish with Omega 3 fatty acids,
and a lower consumption of lean meat and dairy – has been proven essential to chronic illness
prevention, and critical for a weight loss strategy that people can stick with, and has been
documented in extensive media coverage. People are recognizing this.
There’s Proof That Advocating Mediterranean-Style Eating
Will Affect Behavior Change And Impact Chronic Illness
1.Source: http://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00038-011-0327-8#page-1.
“Conclusion: Exposure to mass media information is significantly associated with greater adherence to both Mediterranean
diet and Mediterranean-like eating pattern, an association that public health strategies should take into account.”

17. Uniqueness Of MHFL’s Lifestyle Management System
Bolsters Health Impacts Of Mediterranean-Style Eating
And Encourages Migration From Poor Eating Habits To Healthy Eating
Validated By Food & Nutrition Scientists, MHFL Provides Significant Differentiation
Vs. Other Diets -- Even Other Mediterranean Diets -- To Meet Consumers’ Needs
MHFL uniquely blends Mediterranean-style eating with: 1.) an emphasis on a higher proportion
of low-calorie/high-nutrient foods -- so those accustomed to consuming a lot can feel full without
filling out, and 2.) a focus on “High Octane” foods proven most efficacious at impacting health
MHFL will be delivering essential lifestyle management tools to augment
and affirm the nutritional value in Mediterranean-style eating
Existing Resources:
• Educational “MHFL brand” experience needed to lead behavior change
• “MHFL Trapezoid” specifying foods with functionality that produces health impacts
• “MHFL Research” citing longitudinal studies on impacts of Mediterranean-style eating
on chronic illness, weight loss and long-term weight maintenance, and lifespans
(MHFL’s extensive research materials were provided to the USDA Nutrition Evidence Library)
• “MHFL HELP” (Healthy Eating & Living Plan) offering tips proven to help shift to healthier eating
• “MHFL Best Of All Functional Foods” document explaining food functionality and health impacts
• “MHFL Nutrition Facts” guide to managing weight, identifies foods with less calories than grams
• Conformity to USDA MyPlate/SuperTracker qualified MHFL as a MyPlate Community Partner
• Advocacy for evidence-based nutrition in healthcare/nutrition as part of the healthcare continuum
Planned Resources:
• “MHFL League” community/social network/cooking classes/shopping club to encourage change
• MHFL coupons and offers from healthy food brands, restaurants, fitness, insurers, etc.
• Expansion and tracking of impact on food budgets and dependency on pantries among the poor
• MHFL match to health outcomes to document impact of evidence-based nutrition in healthcare
• Continued advocacy of MHFL impact on methane and climate

18. Expert Panel Affirms The Healthcare Value In
Mediterranean Harvest For Life
Dr. Tim Carr, UNL professor of Nutrition and Health Science,
validated the potential health impact of MHFL:
”Dr. Carr mentioned this (MHFL) concept represents
leading a big, necessary change in our lifestyles;
and he drew the analogy between the Phil Skololof,
who single handedly led the change to eliminate trans fats
from commercial cooking, and LMI’s strategy
to migrate people to this more healthy (MHFL) lifestyle.”
University of Nebraska Food Processing Center Expert Panel Summary

19. THANK YOU!
For More Information Contact:
Tim Maurer
tim.maurer@mediterraneanharvest.com
402-212-7973
www.mediterraneanharvest.com
®
®
A community service of:
1520 South 70th Street, Suite 101
Lincoln, NE 68506