Effectiveness and speed in reducing cardiovascular risk with nutritional intervention in a cohort of Italian women

Abstract

Background

Nutritional intervention based on the Mediterranean Diet is effective in significantly reducing, in a relatively short time, the cardiovascular risk in a population of Italian women. Given the absence of contraindications, the Mediterranean diet is an unparalleled tool in preventive and clinical medicine.

Objective

The purpose of the study was to demonstrate the therapeutic efficacy of nutritional intervention based on the Mediterranean Diet in the reduction over a period of one year of risk factors for cardio-vascular diseases.
Methods

The study sample consisted of 97 Italian women (mean age 46.09 ± 13.8 years) who voluntarily underwent dietary evaluation and haematochemical analyses, blood pressure measurement and measurement of anthropometric parameters. Follow-up was carried out with repetition of the same examinations one year later during which a Mediterranean diet was followed.

Results

One year after the start of the diet, blood levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides were significantly reduced; similarly, there was a significant reduction in BMI and a normalization of systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels.
Conclusion

These results are of considerable importance for public health, because this preventive and therapeutic dietary model remains can be easily adopted by all population groups and various cultures given the absence of contraindications.