Alcohol Top 'Active Ingredient' in Mediterranean Diet

More secrets about the over-hyped Mediterranean Diet revealed.

"Moderate alcohol intake may be the single biggest contributor to the Mediterranean diet's longevity benefit, accounting for 23.5% of the effect in a prospective cohort study.

Surprisingly, the high ratio of monounsaturated-to-saturated fat in the olive oil-rich diet was a more modest contributor to the reduction in all-cause mortality, at 10.6%, according to Dimitrios Trichopoulos, MD, PhD, of Harvard, and colleagues.

Low meat consumption and lots of fruits, vegetables, and nuts were the main contributors to health benefits after alcohol.

Meanwhile, high fish and seafood consumption was actually associated with a nonsignificant increase in mortality risk, they reported online in BMJ."

Eat hearty?

Nah.

Drink hearty!

And avoid the killer fish.

"After an average 8.5 years of follow-up, the researchers found that above average fish and seafood intake was the only component of the Mediterranean diet that did not perform as expected. Instead of being beneficial, it trended in the wrong direction (mortality ratio 1.078, P=0.243)."

Oops.

Good news for PETA.