(Veggie Loaf)

 The Research - The Rainbow Diet is the primary diet recommendation of CANCERactive, because there is so much research into the colourful Mediterranean diet from such a wide variety of expert scientists. So much that 12 top UK Doctors wrote an open letter to Prime Minister David Cameron urging him to adopt the Diet in Britain. 

"The evidence base for the Mediterranean Diet in preventing all of the chronic illnesses that are plaguing the Western World is overwhelming" stated Dr. Richard Hoffman, when urging Cameron to act in the interests of his people.

What is ?

It is a diet of colour and vibrancy. It is primarily ... 
  - Low sugar/refined sugar consumption, moderate whole carb,
  - High fat, especially good fat (olive oil, nuts and seeds) consumption
  - Low cows’ dairy consumption 
  - High consumption of a diversity of colourful vegetables

  - Moderate wine consumption
  - Sunshine, outdoor.

It would be impossible to list all the research produced on the colourful Mediterranean diet; here we cover the parts other charities rarely reach! 

1. Dementia

  The original letter from the Doctors to Cameron came in response to the aftermath of yet another dementia drug failure. And well it might. In 2007 it was shown that individuals with a low blood sugar level had a lowered risk of dementia, and in 2012, a study by the Mayo Clinic showed that people who consumed a high carb diet had an 89% increased risk of Dementia, while those on a low carb, high fat diet had a decrease in dementia risk of 44%.
(Ref: http://www.chriswoollamshealthwatch.com/articledetail.aspx?id=64)

Another Doctor, expert UK interventional cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra, also a signatory to the letter, has furthered this theme. "Fear sugar, not fat" was the title of his speech at the Old Mutual Health Convention.

2. Heart Disease

   But then, there is clear research on the benefits of the high "good fat" Mediterranean Diet in limiting Heart Disease. For example in one study (http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1200303#t=article) the researchers stated

"In observational cohort studies and a secondary prevention trial (the Lyon Diet Heart Study), increasing adherence to the Mediterranean diet has been consistently beneficial with respect to cardiovascular risk. A systematic review ranked the Mediterranean diet as the most likely dietary model to provide protection against coronary heart disease."

   Not to be left out, UCLA researchers concluded that the colourful Mediterranean diet had a positive effect on heart attack risk. " It (the study) also reveals that the Mediterranean diet has direct benefits for heart health, in addition to its indirect benefits in managing diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure) and inflammation". (Ref: http://healthinfo.uclahealth.org/Conditions/Heart/NewsRecent/6,697078)

The Mayo Clinic also promote the colourful Mediterranean Diet, saying simply that "people who follow the diet have longer life expectancy, and lower rates of chronic illness than do other adults". (Ref: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/multimedia/mediterranean-diet/sls-20077104) 

  So is the fat in Foie Gras, pate and rilletes really so bad in the diet of Gascony? It seems not. A meta-study involving randomised, cohort studies in 2014 by the College of Physicians in America showed that people who consumed higher levels of saturated fat had no increased risk of heart disease over those who consumed low levels. (Ref: http://www.chriswoollamshealthwatch.com/articledetail.aspx?id=3126)

Another ´inconvenient truth´ is that the advice we have all received from Health Authorities in the Western World to cut fat and eat more carbs is seriously flawed. Eating sugar increases your risks of heart disease and cancer, not just diabetes. Research in 2014 on Heart disease is very clear. The more sugar you consume, the greater your risk of heart disease (Ref: http://www.chriswoollamshealthwatch.com/articledetail.aspx?id=15)

3. Longevity

  While we are on the subject of fat consumption, research from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology concludes that women with "high cholesterol" had a 27% higher longevity than those with lower cholesterol. (Ref: http://www.chriswoollamshealthwatch.com/articledetail.aspx?id=3124) 

  The Mediterranean Diet has a marked impact on Ageing. One study concluded that the Rainbow Diet was linked to lengthened telomeres and increased longevity. The scientists were from Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women´s Hospital.
(Ref: http://www.chriswoollamshealthwatch.com/articledetail.aspx?id=3116, and, http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/mediterranean-diet-linked-to-longevity-say-harvard-researchers)

   Another study from Harvard Health in 2013 (Annals of Internal Medicine) showed that women in their 50s to 70s who ate a colourful Mediterranean diet - wherever they were in the world - across the 11 year study, were 40% more likely to live past 70 years of age and at the end of the study were free of 13 chronic illnesses. (Ref: http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/adopt-a-mediterranean-diet-now-for-better-health-later-201311066846)*

4. Diabetes

   In an 8-year trial, the Mediterranean diet proved better than the standard low fat diet in preventing the progression of diabetes Type-2. The study showed that those diagnosed went significantly longer before needing medication (Ref: Esposito K, Maiorino MI, Petrizzo M, et al. The Effects of a Mediterranean Diet on Need for Diabetes Drugs and Remission of Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes: Follow-up of a Randomized Trial. Diabetes Care. 2014).

5. Cancer

Where should we start? Let´s take an overview. In 2010 there was a review of the research to date which concluded that there was evidence of reduced risk and mortality for cancer (Ref: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20924961).

Protect? In a 2008 study (British Journal of Cancer) Harvard researchers looked at the EPIC study (26,000 people).Comparing bad foods with good foods, researchers found a 22% lowered risk of cancer for just two good additions. The more good groups of foods you consume, the greater the protection. (Ref: http://www.nature.com/bjc/press_releases/p_r_jul08_6604418.html) 

A Mediterranean diet has a modest effect on colorectal cancer risk, especially among women (Ref: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23579425)

Correct?In a specific study for prostate cancer, researchers found a 22% lowered risk of mortality for men staying strictly to the colourful Rainbow Diet. (Ref: http://www.europeanurology.com/article/S0302-2838(13)00830-0/fulltext/mediterranean-diet-and-prostate-cancer-risk-and-mortality-in-the-health-professionals-follow-up-study).

   Following a colourful Rainbow Diet is associated with less breast cancers (Ref: Am J Clinical Nutrition. 2010;92:620-5) and less stomach cancers (Ref: Adherence to a Mediterranean diet and risk of gastric adenocarcinoma within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010;91:381-90)

6. So which bit works?

   In a Harvard Study into which bit of the Rainbow diet is important, researchers found that across an 11 year period strict adherence to the overall Rainbow Diet achieved a 66% reduced risk of cancer and heart disease.

"The benefits were dramatic",´ said researchers (Ref: JAMA). Elements reviewed were not smoking, diet, exercise and alcohol intake. Each separately helped;
* Exercise reduced risk by 37%,
* Non-smoking by 34%,
* Diet by 23% and
* Alcohol consumption by 22%

7. And individual elements?

Well ...

   Olive oil seems to be very protective in a number of studies. A review of 25 studies linked it with reduced colorectal, breast, respiratory and other cancers (Ref: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21443483)

Oily fish consumption reduces endometrial cancer risk (Ref: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11815413)

In an analysis of the Boston Nurses and Men´s Health Professional´s studies for nut consumption, the volume was inversely proportional to death from any cause. (Ref: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1307352)