The choice of food for one’s dieting options has a tremendous impact on one’s health. Implying alterations not only to the digestive system but to one’s well-being overall, diet selection needs to be approached with due caution and substantial knowledge of the subject matter. Since the specified dieting strategy suggests consuming a significant amount of plants, while eating seafood and dairy actively, it should be recognized as an important factor in maintaining proper health rates and avoiding heart-related disorders.
General Effects
The overall effects that Mediterranean diet has on health, particularly, on the performance of one’s cardiovascular system (CVS), are expected to be primarily positive due to the nature of the diet’s constituents. Specifically, the introduction of fish and the related products is believed to have a generally positive effect on the performance of one’s heart (Mathur et al., 2020). Similarly, the active promotion of vegetables and fruit into one’s dieting options is assumed to reduce the threat of CVD and the associated concerns (Mathur et al., 2020). Therefore, the overall impact that the Mediterranean diet produces on one’s heart is considered to be broadly positive.
Vegetables and Fruit
Considering the issue closer will demonstrate that the integration of vegetables and fruit into the diet type in question serves a crucial role in helping address heart-related concerns. Specifically, research by Martínez-González et al. (2019) shows that the integration of the minimal processing technique in regard to the plants incorporated into the Mediterranean diet leads to significant cardiovascular benefits. Specifically, the introduction of antioxidants into the bloodstream allows counteracting the performance of oxidants (Martínez-González et al., 2019). The latter are known to produce free radicals, which, in turn, are seen as detrimental to patients’ health, particularly, the cardiovascular system.
Indeed, the specified role of Mediterranean diet components in the management of cardiovascular issues is not to be overlooked. Since free radicals are characterized by high levels of instability and, therefore, can disrupt the patient’s cell and DNA structure, leading to severe disorders, they are highly damaging to the cardiovascular system (Singh et al., 2022). Particularly, the propensity toward increasing the levels of blood sugar in patients make oxidants a massive threat to a patient’s cardiovascular system (Singh et al., 2022). Therefore, the specified components have been reported to produce excessive damage to a patient’s heart and the cardiovascular system, in general.
In turn, the specified property of Mediterranean food, particularly, the vegetables that comprise the bulk of the diet, leads to an increase in the production of antioxidants. Binding with oxidants in a patient’s body, the specified components neutralize the adverse effects that oxidants may have on the cardiovascular system, therefore improving the performance of the patient’s heart (Singh et al., 2022). Furthermore, the study points out that the introduction of antioxidants into the patient’s diet leads to a drop in the development of arrhythmias, which also enhances the efficacy of heart performance (Singh et al., 2022). The specified aspect of the Mediterranean diet makes it particularly important for patients with cardiovascular issues.
Whole Grain
The introduction of other types of food, particularly, whole grain products and legumes, produces a similar effect on a patient’s cardiovasuclar system. Specifically, the outlined components are known for their antioxidant characteristics and properties (Martínez-González et al., 2019). Therefore, they are expected to represent a particularly important opportunity for minimizing the effects of oxidants on a patient’s health (Martínez-González et al., 2019). For the described reason, Mediterranean food choices should be actively advised to people with heart issues.
Excluded Components
Finally, one must adders the connection between managing heart issues in patients with cardiovascular concerns and the types of food that are actively excluded from the Mediterranean diet. Namely, the specified nutrition framework limits the integration of added sugars, as well as other types of carbohydrates, including refined ones, from a patient’s diet (Singh et al., 2022). The specified aspect of the Mediterranean diet is also profoundly important for the effective management foe hart issues and the prevention of CVD, as well as the associated concerns, including the risk of a stroke (Singh et al., 2022). Specifically, studies confirm that the inclusion of added sugars leads to an increased risk to the cardiovascular system (Singh et al., 2022). Therefore, the introduction of substitutes that will allow avoiding the specified food type is a particularly important outcome of the Mediterranean diet.
Absence of Added Sugars
In turn, the Mediterranean diet encourages that a patient should actively avoid the introduction of added sugars into the core food choices. The described requirement, namely, the absence of added sugars and refined carbohydrates in the menu, can be seen as a vital contribution to preventing heart issues in patients (Mathur et al., 2020). Once sweeteners and other products containing added sugar are excluded from the food choices, a patient is likely to experience a substantial change in the cardiovascular system performance.
The described improvement can also be attributed to the fact that the refusal to include added sugars and carbohydrates into the meals leads to a drop in the amount of harmful fats that a liver would otherwise release into a patient’s bloodstream (Mathur et al., 2020). Indeed, the outcome involving the contamination of the bloodstream by harmful fats is particularly harmful since it leads to the further development of insulin resistance as a direct effect to its frequent release by the liver (Mathur et al., 2020). The specified process causes the risks of a heart disease to increase, which is why the Mediterranean diet, which allows minimizing the risks of insulin being released excessively frequently, is an optimal choice for patients with heart issues.
Absence of Saturated Fats
Furthermore, the positive effects that the Mediterranean diet has on the cardiovascular system can be explained by its focus on avoiding saturated fats and the related constituents. Indeed, by definition, the Mediterranean diet suggests the active use of healthy fats as a replacement for unhealthy ones, with a plethora of olive oil and similar plant-based options being used instead of animal fats (Delgado-Lista et al., 2022). In turn, the further study of the subject matter shows that the introduction of dietary fat as a replacement for animal-based one contributes to a drop in the development of low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol in the patient’s blood (Delgado-Lista et al., 2022). As a result, the threat of developing plaques within the bloodstream is reduced to a substantial extent, minimizing the risk of a stroke, as well as the associated concerns, such as myocardial ischemia (Delgado-Lista et al., 2022). Therefore, the incorporation of Mediterranean dieting option s needs to be seen as a vital contribution to managing heart concerns.
How the Studies Fit Together
Overall, the studies fit together quite well since they explain the outcomes that different elements of the Mediterranean diet have on people with heart issues. Each of the articles under analysis completes the others, offering an additional piece of information and examining a specific component of the diet. Together, the articles constitute a body of research that serves as the foundation for the further and more nuanced analysis of the effects of the Mediterranean diet on the cardiac muscle performance
Gaps in Literature
However, certain gaps can be still observed in the current body of research regarding the Mediterranean diet and its effects on the cardiovascular system. Specifically, the direct effects of carbohydrates and added sugars on the propensity toward heart disease and the associated issues requires further research (Singh et al., 2022). Furthermore, healthy nutrition options regarding the use of Mediterranean food for patients with heart conditions could be explored in greater detail. Indeed, the impact that added sugars and other complex carbohydrates have on patients’ health is quite complex. According to Honicky et al. (2021), an increase in the intake of added sugar leads to a variety of health complications due to the development of severe nutrient deficiencies, particularly, oxidative stress.
Conclusion
Due to its active use of vegetables and seafood, with only occasional inclusion of red meat into the menu, Mediterranean diet should be considered exceptionally important for heart health. Therefore, introducing the specified dieting choices into the menu of a patient with heart issues should be regarded as a possible option. Once the focus on healthy eating is established, a patient is likely to follow the proposed pattern and, therefore, avoid exposure to risk-causing behaviors. The overwhelming evidence regarding the importance of following Mediterranean diet for patients with heart issues indicates that the specified food choice is an important addition to the general treatment framework for patients with heart problems. Therefore, Mediterranean dieting should be regarded as a crucial component of preventing and managing heart issues.
References
Delgado-Lista, J., Alcala-Diaz, J. F., Torres-Peña, J. D., Quintana-Navarro, G. M., Fuentes, F., Garcia-Rios, A., Ortiz-Morales, A. M., Gonzalez-Requero, A. I., Perez-Caballero, A. I., Yubero-Serrano, A. M., Rangel-Zuñiga, O. A., Camargo, A., Rodriguez-Cantalejo, F., Lopez-Segura, F., Badimon, L., Ordovas, J. M., Perez-Jimenez, F., Perez-Martinez, P., & Visioli, F. (2022). Long-term secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease with a Mediterranean diet and a low-fat diet (CORDIOPREV): A randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, 399(10338), 1876-1885. Web.
Honicky, M., Souza, J. N., Cardoso, S. M., de Carlos Back, I., Vieira, F. G. K., de Fragas Hinnig, P., & Moreno, Y. M. F. (2021). Dietary patterns are associated with central adiposity and carotid intima-media thickness in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease. European Journal of Nutrition, 60(8), 4295-4306. Web.
Martínez-González, M. A., Gea, A., & Ruiz-Canela, M. (2019). The Mediterranean diet and cardiovascular health: A critical review. Circulation research, 124(5), 779-798. Web.
Mathur, K., Agrawal, R. K., Nagpure, S., & Deshpande, D. (2020). Effect of artificial sweeteners on insulin resistance among type-2 diabetes mellitus patients. Journal of family medicine and primary care, 9(1), 69-71. Web.
Singh, R. B., Fedacko, J., Fatima, G., Magomedova, A., Watanabe, S., & Elkilany, G. (2022). Why and how the Indo-Mediterranean diet may be superior to other diets: The role of antioxidants in the diet. Nutrients, 14(4), 898-908. Web.