Atlantic Diet May Help Cholesterol, Blast Belly Fat: Study

Nutritious food

as if Tracy Swartz

See you, Mediterranean diet?

No beef, the Atlantic diet – a traditional diet plan in northwestern Spain and northern Portugal – is said to reduce belly fat and improve HDL “good” cholesterol levels.

The diet includes plenty of fish and seafood, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, olive oil, dried fruit (especially chestnuts), milk, cheese, and moderate intake of meat and wine.

A study published last week Open in JAMA Network followed more than 200 families from the rural Spanish community of Estrada from March 2014 to May 2015.

121 families were instructed to follow the Atlantic diet, while 110 families continued to consume their usual diet.

Atlantic dieters learned about their new diet plan in three educational sessions and received additional support such as a cooking class, written materials and food baskets.

At the beginning of the study and after 6 months, data was collected on the participants’ diet, exercise, medication use and other variables.

Researchers in Spain also measured waist circumference, triglyceride levels, HDL cholesterol levels, blood pressure and fasting glucose levels.

These five factors are a group of conditions that increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke.

Of the 457 participants who did not have metabolic syndrome at the beginning of the trial, 23 developed during the 6-month follow-up – 17 participants (7.3%) who followed their traditional diet and 6 participants (2.7%). He switched to the Atlantic diet.

Of the 117 participants who met criteria for metabolic syndrome at the start of the study, 18 in the Atlantic dieters (28.6%) and 16 in the control group (29.6%) dropped that label.

The researchers said the Atlantic diet “had no significant changes in high blood pressure, high triglyceride levels, or high fasting serum glucose” but did not improve waist circumference and HDL cholesterol levels.

“The Atlantic Diet offers the greatest potential for improving health by focusing on nutrient-dense foods and family-oriented eating habits,” says Michelle Rutenstein, a registered dietitian who specializes in heart disease and is a registered dietitian at EntirelyNourished.com. He told Healthline..

“This diet promotes the bioavailability of nutrients by prioritizing healthy ingredients and traditional cooking methods such as stewing, allowing the body to better absorb and use them,” she added.

Dr. Cheng-Han Chen, a California-based interventional cardiologist who was not involved in the new research, said the results were not surprising, “the diet is very similar to the well-studied and beneficial Mediterranean diet.”

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes vegetables, fruits, beans, lentils, nuts, whole grains and extra virgin olive oil and avoids red meat, sweets, sugary drinks and butter in favor of moderate amounts of fish, cheese, yogurt and wine.

Researchers in Spain also said that the Atlantic diet is similar to the Mediterranean diet.

“These types of eating patterns (Atlantic and Mediterranean diets) have the potential to reduce and improve the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke and cognitive decline such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. [gastrointestinal] function and the gut microbiome,” University of Miami associate professor Tracy Crane told Healthline.

A study published in 2021 It found that a high intake of the Atlantic diet, known as the Southern European Atlantic diet, was consistently associated with lower mortality.

There are some limitations to the new study, the researchers said: “6 months may not be enough to accurately assess metabolic changes. Follow-up of participants for a few years may strengthen our results.”