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March 14 (UPI) -- An analysis of studies that looked at more than 700,000 women in the United States and Europe found those who dedicated themselves to eating a Mediterranean diet cut their risk of cardiovascular disease and death by nearly 25%. The research, published Tuesday in the online journal Heart, found that the Mediterranean diet was beneficial to women aged 18 who were monitored for an average of 12.5 years.
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A Mediterranean diet is rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruit, legumes, nuts and extra virgin olive oil; moderate in fish and shellfish; low to moderate in wine; and low in red and processed meats, dairy products, animal fat, and processed foods.
From 190 relevant studies, the researchers included 16 published between 2003 and 2021 in their pooled data analysis.
"Female-specific cardiovascular risk factors, including premature menopause, pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes, or female predominant risk factors, such as systemic lupus, can all independently increase [cardiovascular disease] risk," the researchers wrote.
The lead author was cardiologist Sarah Zaman, an associate professor at the Westmead Applied Research Center and Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sidney in Australia.
"It is possible that preventative measures, such as a Mediterranean diet, that targets inflammation and [cardiovascular disease] risk factors, impose differing effects in women compared with men."
The analysis found that the risk of coronary heart disease was 25% lower in those closely following the Mediterranean diet, while the threat of stroke was also lower, although not statistically significant.
Researchers said the findings were not materially affected by excluding each of the studies one at a time from the analysis.
"[That] further supporting a strong inverse relationship for incident [cardiovascular disease] and total mortality with higher Mediterranean diet adherence in women," the researchers said.
Researchers agreed, though, there were limitations, such as the studies relying on observation and "relied on self-reported food frequency questionnaires." They added that other potentially influential factors varied across the examined studies.
They said the findings were strong enough to prompt further sex-specific research to guide clinical practice in heart health.
Earlier this month, another study linked the Mediterranean diet to helping multiple sclerosis patients ward off damage to their thinking skills and reducing memory loss.
In another study posted in the journal BMC Medicine on Tuesday, the authors with the British Biobank found adherence to a Mediterranean diet was associated with lower dementia risk.
The said evidence from the large population-based prospective cohort study results underlined the importance of dietary interventions in future dementia prevention strategies regardless of genetic predisposition.
The researchers found that those who ate a Mediterranean-like diet had up to 23% lower risk of dementia compared with those who did not.
The co-authors were Oliver M. Shannon and Janice M. Ranson from the Population Health Sciences Institute of the Human Nutrition and Exercise Research Center at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom.
