Mediterranean diet could prevent strokes

A gene variant that is associated with the development of type 2 diabetes and strokes has been shown to be altered by a Mediterranean diet.
Researchers from the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Centre on Aging at Tufts University and the CIBER Fisiopatologia de la Obesidad y Nutricion in Spain worked together to see what effects an eating regimen consisting of greens, fish and smaller amounts of meat would have on the body.
Scientists conducted a randomised controlled trial of more than 7,000 men and women assigned to either a Mediterranean or low fat diet and monitored their risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and heart attack for nearly five years.
They found those on the southern European regimen were discovered to have slightly altered Transcription Factor 7-Like 2 gene, which has previously been implicated in the process of glucose metabolism.
Dr Jose Ordovas, senior author on the study, said: “Our study is the first to identify a gene-diet interaction affecting stroke in a nutrition intervention trial carried out over a number of years in thousands of men and women.”