A Healthy Diet for Heart Patients

In patients with coronary artery disease, the Mediterranean diet may reduce heart attack and stroke risk, a new study found.

This study, published recently in the European Heart Journal, looked at 15,482 patients with coronary artery disease from all over the world. The Auckland City Hospital, New Zealand, researchers behind this study found that patients who ate the highest proportion of Mediterranean diet foods were the least likely to have a stroke or heart attack over nearly four years.

The Mediterranean diet includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish and unrefined foods.

These researchers also found that eating more Mediterranean foods appeared more important than avoiding "bad" foods — sugary, fried and processed — in lowering the risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Still, that doesn't mean the effect of eating unhealthy foods can be balanced by eating more healthy foods, too, these researchers said.

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline funded this research. Study authors disclosed ties to various pharmaceutical companies.