Tune in to our radio show on your local public radio station, or sign up for the podcast and listen at your leisure. Here’s what it’s about:
The news from Spain this week is promising indeed. Some 7,500 Spaniards volunteered for a study that has shown quite clearly that the Mediterranean diet can save lives. In fact, those consuming a Mediterranean diet with either extra-virgin olive oil or walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds providing extra fat were 30 percent less likely to die of a heart attack during the study than those assigned to a low-fat diet.
Another kind of cardiovascular problem can arise in the veins rather than the arteries. Blood clots deep in the legs (called DVT for deep vein thrombosis) can break loose and lodge in the lungs, creating a medical emergency. What do you need to know about DVT and how to prevent them? Will aspirin help?
We welcome listener questions and stories about making heart-healthy choices in diet, exercise and lifestyle.
Guests: Gina Kolata, medical writer for The New York Times. Her article was published on Feb. 25, 2013. To take the quiz she mentions, click here.
What vegetables might you include in a Mediterranean-style diet? Here are 10 of our favorites:
• artichokes
• asparagus
• broccoli
• cucumbers
• eggplant
• kale
• peppers
• spinach
• tomatoes
This list was extracted from our book, The People’s Pharmacy Quick & Handy Home Remedies. It contains details on the Mediterranean diet.
Richard Becker, MD, MEd, is director of the Cardiovascular Thrombosis Center at the Duke Heart Center of Duke University Health System. The website is http://www.dukehealth.org/heart_center His editorial comments on a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine on May 24, 2012.The ASPIRE study he referred to was published on Nov. 22, 2012. The photo is of Dr. Becker.
The podcast of this program will be available the Monday after the broadcast date. The show can be streamed online from this site and podcasts can be downloaded for free for four weeks after the date of broadcast. After that time has passed, digital downloads are available for $2.99. CDs may be purchased at any time after broadcast for $9.99.
PS…a big ooops occurred on the radio show. We said something about consuming 4 tablespoons of olive oil a day during the study and also mentioned 1 liter a week of olive oil. Whew…we got nailed because the two don’t match up. Here’s the story:
The investigators encouraged participants to consume 4 tablespoons of olive oil daily. They supplied the subjects 1 liter of olive oil a week. We now know (thanks to our vigilant listeners) that there are roughly 68 tablespoons in a liter. If you consumed 4 tablespoons a day for 30 days that would be 120 tablespoons. But the subjects were given roughly 272 tablespoons of olive oil in a month.
The answer is that they were supposed to eat AT LEAST 4 tablespoons a day. They could have consumed more and in fact were encouraged to do so by getting the extra olive oil for free (an extra 152 tablespoons of olive oil each month).
Sorry we did not get it exactly right on the radio.
