Mediterranean Diet can Cut Heart Disease Risk in Women by 24 Percent, Report Says

By Ellen Francis / The Washington Post

13:10 JST, March 17, 2023

A Mediterranean diet could lower the risk of heart disease in women by 24 percent, new research says.

It’s the first such analysis of the possible link between a Mediterranean-type diet and cardiovascular disease that focuses on women, the authors say.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death globally, according to the World Health Organization, and in the United States, it is the No. 1 killer of women, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

It is often seen as a male problem, but coronary heart disease kills more than twice as many women as breast cancer in the United Kingdom each year, said Victoria Taylor, a senior dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, who was not involved in the study.

The research analyzed 16 studies and found that women who follow a Mediterranean diet more closely than others had a 24 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease. They also had a 23 percent lower risk of mortality, said the report, published Tuesday in the peer-reviewed medical journal Heart.

The report, led by researchers at the University of Sydney, describes the diet as high in unprocessed plant foods and low in red or processed meat and dairy. It also features whole grains, vegetables, fruit and nuts – and extra virgin olive oil as the preferred main source of dietary fat.

While studies have looked at the impact of such diets on cardiovascular diseases, this has not typically centered on women, the authors said.

“So this really confirmed that a Med diet was equally beneficial in women as it has been known to be in men,” Sarah Zaman told Australian TV. She is one of the authors and an associate professor at the University of Sydney’s Westmead Applied Research Centre.

The researchers acknowledged the limitations of their work, including that the studies were largely observational and dependent on self-reporting of food intake. They said, however, it “highlights the need to include sex specific analysis in research and translate such findings into clinical practice guidelines.”

The observational studies meant they could not show cause and effect, and the reliance on self-reporting is “a regular problem with dietary studies that can affect reliability of results,” Taylor said in an email. Nonetheless, “sex-specific research like this is vital for reducing the heart disease gender gap and improving women’s care,” she said.

“It’s long been known that eating a Mediterranean-style is good for your heart, but it’s encouraging to see this research suggest that when we look at women separately from men, the benefits remain,” Taylor said.