ideas from an italian nutritionist who ended up in scandinavia to study the mediterranean diet

Gianluca TognonSpecialist in Food Science and Human Nutrition

www.gianlucatognon.comwww.epilife.se

Ideas from an Italian nutritionist who ended up in Scandinavia to study the Mediterranean diet

What is a "healthy diet"? The health benefits of the Mediterranean diet are well known. However, many different kinds of diets have also been proposed: LCHF, low-fat, even blood type diets! How to disentangle the intricate web of healthy diets? Does diet really make a difference?

foto Cornelia Schmidt

Today in Sweden….

Bär: Okej i måttliga mängder. Goda med vispad gräddeSource: http://www.kostdoktorn.se/lchf/

50 years ago in Finland ...

In 1972, as people realized that it was not

normal to suffer from chest pain before the age

of 50, a national community-based program

was set up to reduce the risk factors for

cardiovascular diseases

People were educated to pay attention to health related issues, particularly smoking and diet

Programs at workplaces to lose weight, quit smoking or to increase the availability of vegetables at work canteens

TV series were broadcast where a group of people volunteered to make healthy lifestyle changes with the help of experts

Diet• The industry focused on the development of

low fat/salt dairy and meat products

• Close collaboration with vegetable oil product manufacturers to produce healthier spreads

• A project that encouraged people to grow berries

What happened?• Finland has reduced the number of heart

attacks by 75% since the early 1970s

• Many still die for cardiovascular diseases compared to some other countries, but results have still been tremendous and this is clearly due to the reduction in risk factors

• Published in 1972• 4 steps: approach,

weight loss, pre-maintenance and definitive maintenance

• Carbohydrate intake is reduced to 20 g per day and subsequently increased

• Published in a book in 1995

• 40% energy from carbohydrates, 30% from protein, 30% from fat

• It is supposed to improve the plasma lipid values

• Attack (3-10 days): protein predominate (eggs, fish, meat and dairy products low in fat), fruit and vegetables banned

• Cruise (one week for each kg to lose): in addition vegetables low in sugar.

• Consolidation (10 days for every kg of weight lost) reappear carbohydrates, but the regime is still not optimal for the body

Low carb/High fat (LCHF)• Up to 70% of energy from

fat• High intakes of animal and

vegetable fat products • High intakes of vegetables• Small intakes of legumes,

fruit, nuts• No cereal grains, potatoes

and no sweet products

The Mediterranean diet

General features

Children: The Idefics StudyA European study including 16,224 boys and girls, aged 2 - 9 years from 8 different countries: Sweden, Italy, Estonia, Cyprus, Belgium, Germany, Hungary and Spain

Mediterranean Diet Healthy weight

Adults: The Västerbotten Intervention Program

•90,000 men and women from the North of Sweden

•The largest Swedish population study on nutrition

Mediterranean Diet

• Longer life overall• Less deaths for

cardiovascular diseases and cancer

Elderly: The H70 StudyAround 1,300 men and women from Gothenburg and interviewed in their 70s in different periods since the ’70

Mediterranean Diet Longer life

Can we translate this into a Swedish Healthy diet?

Cereal grains

Fish and shell fish

Fruit, berries and nuts

Vegetables and legumes

Thanks for your attention!

Gianluca Tognonwww.gianlucatognon.com

www.epilife.se