Mediterranean Diet can help improve the heart and erections

Men suffering with erectile dysfunction are often linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular problems like heart attack and stroke, but adhering to a healthy Mediterranean diet can decrease this risk, according to a new study.

The Mediterranean diet has repeatedly been linked to huge health gains such as ideal for weight loss, reducing the risk of cancer, high blood pressure, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, as well as being beneficial for the skin with various anti-aging boosts.

The diet is usually comprises of a daily consumption of plenty of fruit, vegetables, beans (legumes), grains, pasta, olive oil and nuts. It also contains moderate amounts of chicken and fish, with a small amount of red wine allowed as this has been shown to boost the health benefits of the diet, helping to thin the blood safely while providing its benefit through the antioxidant resveratrol.

Erectile dysfunction patients that have poor diets often have substantially more vascular and cardiac damage. Therefore, Grecian researchers wanted to conduct research to determine if the Mediterranean diet – touted as having cardiovascular benefits – could reduce the outcome of that risk, and explained their findings at the annual meeting of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging in Austria.

The study included 75 men with erectile dysfunction with an average age of 56. All had attended Hippokration Hospital in Athens, Greece – thereby having a bigger access to Mediterranean food than most – and had been diagnosed with erectile dysfunction.

Grecian doctor Dr. Athanasios Angelis, involved in the study, commented in a press release: “Erectile dysfunction is not a symptom of aging. It is a bad sign from the body that something is wrong with the vasculature. In 80 percent of cases erectile dysfunction is caused by vascular problems, and is a warning that patients are at increased risk of a heart attack or stroke.”

It was discovered that those patients that were not sticking to a Mediterranean diet had hearts and vascular systems in a poorer condition in comparison to those that often consumed foods from the diet on a regular basis.

Dr Angelis added: “Patients with erectile dysfunction who had unhealthy diets had more vascular and cardiac damage than those who followed the Mediterranean diet. Previous studies have shown that patients with erectile dysfunction have vascular damage but we found that the heart is also damaged. This may help to further explain why these patients are more prone to cardiovascular events. The formation of atheroma, the stiffening of the arteries, and the poor functioning of the heart can eventually lead to a cardiac event.”

“Our findings suggest that adopting the Mediterranean diet can improve the cardiovascular risk profile of patients with erectile dysfunction and may reduce their chances of having a heart attack or stroke. This needs to be tested in a larger study.”

Dr Angelis also offered advice for those on a lower budget, saying: “Really simple changes in our diet may help a lot, for example using olive oil which contains monounsaturated fat. If someone doesn’t have the money to buy some of the foods they can substitute them with others, for example nuts are a good source of monounsaturated fat. Sometimes it’s difficult to adopt something if you consider that it’s part of a prescription, but the Mediterranean diet is not a prescription, it’s a lifestyle. It’s about having an awareness of what foods are healthy or unhealthy.”

He concluded: “Patients who have erectile dysfunction and don’t adhere to the Mediterranean diet have vascular and cardiac damage and are at increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Our findings suggest that adopting a healthy diet can reduce that risk. We also advise patients to stop smoking, exercise and ensure that they have healthy levels of blood pressure and lipids.”

A Mediterranean diet can decrease heart attack risk

Researchers claim that by adhering to a healthy Mediterranean diet, this is almost as good for your heart as statins in reducing the risk of suffering from a heart attack or stroke. The news emerges coincidentally as we approach the end of the ‘Rock up in Red’ campaign for National Heart Month, of which Medical Specialists Pharmacy are proud supporters of.

Cholesterol-busting statins such as Crestor (Rosuvastatin) and Lipitor (Atorvastatin) are currently prescribed to nearly a tenth (7 million) of the UK population and function by raising good/protective cholesterol (HDL) and lowering bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides. The higher your cholesterol level, the bigger risk there is of suffering from a heart attack and stroke due to your arteries being clogged up with the fat-like substance known as cholesterol.

However, Spanish researchers led by Prof Ramon Estruch, a professor of medicine at Barcelona University, believe that consuming a Mediterranean diet comprising of plenty lot of fruit, vegetables, fish and wine, and only small amounts of red meat or dairy products, can provide some degree of defence against heart problems.

Many have previously acknowledged the fact that people from Mediterranean countries are more inclined to have lower levels of heart disease though there has been uncertainty if this was due to hereditary factors, or linked to diet and lifestyle.

For the study, the Spanish academics tracked 7,447 people during the years of 2003 and 2009 – consisting of men aged 55 to 88 and women aged 60 to 80. None of the participants had any kind of cardiovascular disease at the beginning of the study. However, they were all at risk due to having type 2 diabetes or were at risk due to having three things from a list of health problems. These were: smoking, high blood pressure, high levels of bad cholesterol, low levels of healthy cholesterol, overweight or there being family history of coronary heart disease.

The participants were assigned into one of three groups; two of which were instructed to eat a Mediterranean diet – one supplemented with four table spoons of extra-virgin olive oil and the other with about one ounce of nuts (walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts). The third group were instead told to stick to a diet that included low-fat dairy products, grains and fruits and vegetables.

Following an average of 4.8 years assessment, 228 had either suffered a heart attack or stroke or died of heart-related problems. Of this total, 96 were in the olive oil group (3.4% of participants), 83 in the group eating plenty of nuts (3.4%) and 109 in the low-fat group (4.4%). This equates to a 30% decline in risk for those on the Mediterranean diets compared with the low fat diet.

Researchers say that important elements from the diets that boosted health included moderate consumption of ethanol – derived from the wine, low consumption of meat, and high intake of vegetables, fruit, nuts, legumes, fish and olive oil. In fact they were so impressed with their study findings that they began adopting a Mediterranean diet themselves.

The authors conclude: “The results of our trial might explain, in part, the lower cardiovascular mortality in Mediterranean countries than in northern Europe or the United States.”

Although not involved with the study, Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director of the British Heart Foundation, commented on its findings, and advised against anybody deciding to forsake their prescribed statins in favour of merely a change in diet. He said: “This large long-term study shows that eating a Mediterranean diet is associated with heart health benefits, including reductions in heart attack, stroke and deaths from cardiovascular disease. While these findings aren’t new they add to our knowledge and confidence that a Mediterranean diet can help cut down your cardiovascular risk. A well-balanced diet low in salt, saturated fat and sugar is a vital part of a healthy lifestyle. That said, a Mediterranean diet should not replace your prescribed medication.”