Mediterranean diet is healthy... but Maltese isn’t

The Mediterranean diet cuts the chances of suffering a heart attack or stroke by a third, according to a study. Results released by the New England Journal of Medicine this week confirmed claims that the Mediterranean diet reduces the rate for people who are at risk of heart attacks and strokes when compared to a low-fat diet. But despite our geographical location, the Maltese diet, influenced by the 200-year British rule and the proximity to Italy, is far from Mediterranean. The findings – Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet – show that about 30 per cent of heart attacks, strokes and deaths could be prevented in people at high risk if they switched to a diet rich in olive oil, vegetables, fish, beans, swap red meat with white meat and even drink wine. News of the findings spread quickly as, so far, studies showed lower rates of heart disease in Mediterranean countries that could not be pinned down to just the diet. For this study, 7,450 people in Spain who had diabetes, smoked or had other risk factors were asked to follow a Mediterranean or low-fat diet. The Mediterranean diet included four tablespoons of olive oil a day or three servings of...