The Mediterranean Diet E-book
A Healthful Alternative to the standard American diet
already proclaimed by the media as a healthful alternative to the standard American diet, became known as just another low fat eating plan.
Differences between types of fats
In the early 1990s, research began to illuminate the differences between types of fats.
Scientists Frank Sacks and Walter Willett, among others, recognized that high levels of a certain type of blood cholesterol—HDL, or what has become known as “good cholesterol”—could actually be just as important for coronary heart disease prevention as low levels of total blood cholesterol, or of “bad” (LDL) blood cholesterol.
HDL cholesterol
Because diets low in saturated fats and high in monounsaturated fats appear to be promoters of HDL cholesterol, the Mediterranean diet again became a topic of interest.
Olive oil, the principal fat in the Mediterranean diet, is a rich source of monounsaturated fat. This, surmised scientists, could be an important contributor to the lower levels of coronary heart disease in the Mediterranean region.
