There were two important publishing events in the field of
nutrition this past week. One was bad science about what is good
for you; the other was good science about what is bad for you.
The New England Journal of Medicine published a study on diet
and heart disease that found significant benefits to
cardiovascular health from eating a “Mediterranean diet.” The
New York Times wrote, “About 30 percent of heart attacks,
strokes and deaths from heart disease can be prevented in people
at high risk if they switch to a Mediterranean diet.” According
to the Times article, “the magnitude of the diet’s benefits
startled experts.” (The Mediterranean diet groups ate the foods
typically associated with that diet — e.g., fish, beans, peas,
lentils, olive oil and wine — but also were allowed poultry and
smaller quantities of red meat, soft drinks and baked goods. The
control group was told to eat a low-fat diet, but the study
reports the people pretty much just ate the diet they had been
eating.) One of the study’s author