A team of researchers has found out the benefits of consuming a balanced diet. The diet that they recommend people to consume is balanced in every sense and involves the replacement of carbohydrates such as pasta and white bread with unsaturated fats present in food items such as olive oil, nuts and avocados. Such a nutrition rich diet is termed as ‘The Mediterranean diet’.
According to a report prepared by the American Heart Association, eating a Mediterranean diet is good for your health especially to people suffering from some form of a heart disease. Such a dietary change is beneficial as it provides the required nutrition for the proper n healthy functioning of various body parts even if there is no weight loss by consuming the diet. Experts also reveal that consumption of the right form of fat such as the unsaturated fat in a diet is extremely good for health as it reduces the risk of suffering from heart diseases in the future.
Researchers analyzed data to study the effects of three types of balanced diets on the heart of people suffering from mild hypertension without diabetes. The main purpose of the research was to study the ability of the body to maintain blood sugar level along with healthy insulin level in the various diets. The diets included in the study were unsaturated fats-rich diet, protein-rich diet and carbohydrate-rich diet. It is known that people who are not able to properly use insulin in the body develop diabetes which makes them more prone to suffering from heart diseases.
The results of the research reflected that diets which have a higher concentration of unsaturated fats which are present in food items such as olive oil, nuts and avocados improve the use of insulin much more effectively than a carbohydrate or protein rich diet. The diet which was considered best out of the three balanced diets is quite similar to ‘Mediterranean diet’. Such a diet comprises of food products that are preferred in Greece and Southern Italy. It includes consumption of foods rich in nutrition such as unsaturated fats, vegetables and fruits which are extremely good for our health.
The study also revealed that consumption of such a diet did not lead to any fluctuation in the weight of the people but lead to immense improvement in the health patterns of people consuming it.