(Reuters) - A Mediterranean diet high in olive oil, nuts, fish
and fresh fruits and vegetables may help prevent heart disease
and strokes, according to a large study from Spain. Past
research suggested people who eat this type of diet have
healthier hearts, but those studies couldn't rule out that other
health or lifestyle differences had made the difference. But for
the new trial, written up in the New England Journal of
Medicine, researchers randomly assigned study volunteers at risk
of heart disease to a Mediterranean or standard low-fat diet for
five years, allowing the team to single out the effect of diet
in particular. "This is good news, because we know how to
prevent the main cause of deaths - that is cardiovascular
diseases - with a good diet," said Miguel Angel Martinez-
Gonzalez, who worked on the study at the Universidad de Navarra
in Pamplona. He and colleagues from across Spain assigned almost
7,500 older adults with diabetes or other heart risks to one of
three groups. Two groups were instructe