"The Mediterranean diet includes lots of fish plenty of fruits and vegetables portions of whole grains and very little meat. This classic diet does not exclude a dinnertime glass of wine however sugary drinks fried food and sweets are not on the menu. Scientists believe this style of eating offers some protection against mental aging http and above all else it is heart healthy. A new study httphttpeurheartj.oxfordjournals.orgcontentearlyrecent of over  people in  countries explored the benefits of this diet for one special group those already diagnosed with heart disease. Surprisingly the results suggest it might be possible they can have their cake and eat it too. Participants eating a Mediterranean diet http showed a lower risk of heart attack and stroke the researchers discovered yet eating healthy food appeared to be more important than avoiding unhealthy foods identified as typical of a socalled Western diet such as French fries fatty red meats and yes even cake. Though diet names refer to regions they are not precise. Led by Professor Ralph Stewart from the University of Auckland New Zealand a team of researchers asked  older adults with stable coronary artery disease to complete a lifestyle questionnaire. With an average age of  each was a participant in GlaxoSmithKlines STABILITY drug trial created to learn whether the drug reduced the risk of heart attacks strokes and deaths. Participants lived in Western and Eastern Europe North and South America and the Asia Pacific region. They answered questions about their diet and reported how many times a week they consumed servings from separate food groups. Looking at their answers researchers gave them points in either the Mediterranean diet or Western diet category. Over nearly four years  about  percent of the study participants suffered either a heart attack or stroke or died. Those who ate more foods in the Mediterranean diet category http were . times less likely to experience one of these three events than people whose diets more closely resembled the Western standard. In fact every onepoint increase in a participants Mediterranean diet score was linked with a  percent reduction in risk of heart attack stroke or death. Look at it this way if  people ate the highest proportion of Mediterranean foods and  ate the least there would be three fewer heart attacks strokes http or deaths among those who ate more foods from the Mediterranean diet. These findings held for every geographical region. Now heres the interesting part eating more foods thought to be less healthy  those typical of Western diets did not link to an increase in heart attacks strokes or deaths. Eating more healthy foods was the key even if some unhealthy foods were also consumed along the way. According to Stewart the meaning behind the numbers is clear. Instead of avoiding unhealthy foods people with weak hearts might focus more on consuming healthy foods. That said Stewart notes his study has limitations including a lack of strict guidelines about portion size http and no measure of total calories. Longstanding American Heart Association guidelines recommend a diet primarily consisting of fruits vegetables fish and other whole foods with limited amounts of sodium sugar saturated fats and refined carbohydrates. Eat as you dare. Source Stewart RAH Wallentin L Benatar J et al. Dietary patterns and the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in a global study of highrisk patients with stable coronary heart disease. European Heart Journal. ."