Researchers are predicting that the results of a large-scale Spanish study on the benefits of the Mediterranean diet will show that it can reduce heart problems, based on early results in groups of test subjects (see sources below).

According to Chinese medicine, an ideal diet consists primarily of foods that grow locally and in season. This makes the Mediterranean diet perfect for the Mediterranean region, but not necessarily elsewhere.

Here is my own prediction. Because the study takes place in Spain — a country in the Mediterranean region, therefore ideally suited to the Mediterranean diet — the final results, due in 2010, will prove conclusively that the Mediterranean diet reduces heart disease. Whether researchers in other parts of the world will try to duplicate the study — and, especially, whether they will get similar results — remains to be seen.

See also:

• Exploring the Mediterranean diet
  

Article sources:

• Mediterranean diet beats low-fat regime for heart health: researchers (CBC)