Club Med

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" HSI - Jenny Thompson " <HSIResearch

 

Club Med

Wed, 24 Nov 2004 08:25:32 -0500

 

Club Med

 

Health Sciences Institute e-Alert

 

November 24, 2004

 

 

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Dear Reader,

 

No one would ever mistake the elements of the traditional

Thanksgiving feast (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry

sauce, etc.) as recipes from the Mediterranean diet.

 

But for those of you who will be heading up kitchen command

centers to produce a classic Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, there

is one ingredient you can include that might help make the meal a

little healthier on the heart. That ingredient is olive oil, and it's

one

of the key factors that make the Mediterranean diet so healthy.

 

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My big fat Greek study

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Those who live on the northern shores of the Mediterranean Sea

tend to eat an abundance of fresh vegetables, fruits, fish, whole

grains, beans and olive oil. About 20 years ago, studies began to

show a clear association between good heart health and a regular

intake of foods in the Mediterranean diet.

 

More recently, a team of researchers at the University of Athens

Medical School studied the effects of the Mediterranean diet – and

olive oil specifically – on arterial blood pressure. Using

information collected from the Greek arm of the European

Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, the

researchers recorded data such as blood pressure readings, dietary

statistics, physical activity reports and clinical variables on more

than 20,000 subjects who had never received a diagnosis of

hypertension.

 

The result: High intakes of olive oil, vegetables and fruits were

significantly associated with lower systolic and diastolic blood

pressure. More specifically, the Athens team noted that olive oil

and vegetables are frequently consumed together. But when the

data regarding olive oil and vegetables was mutually adjusted,

olive oil proved to have the dominant beneficial effect on blood

pressure.

 

But why separate olive oil from vegetables? They were made for

each other!

 

In the e-Alert " Lower Your Blood Pressure Without Side Effects "

(8/23/01), I told you about a blood fluidity study conducted in

Germany that showed how a consumption of olive oil and chopped

onions lead to a significant decrease in blood pressure. And the

effects were obvious within just one week.

 

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All kinds of good

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According to the World Health Organization, as many as half of

the cases of heart disease may be a direct result of high blood

pressure. And by some estimates, hypertension may be responsible

for more than 60 percent of strokes. So when your Thanksgiving

recipe calls for oil, do your heart a favor and try using olive oil.

 

Happy Thanksgiving from HSI.

 

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....and another thing

 

Bad news. The Jones Soda company is currently sold out of what

appears to be a very popular item in their catalog: the Holiday

Pack.

 

Here are the five flavors in the Jones Holiday Pack:

* Turkey & Gravy Soda

* Cranberry Soda

* Mashed Potato & Butter Soda

* Green Bean Casserole Soda

* Fruitcake Soda

 

I ask you, how are we supposed to get through the entire holiday

season without the Holiday Pack?

 

The folks at Jones should have seen this coming. Last year they

produced 6,000 bottles of Turkey & Gravy Soda and the entire

supply was completely gone before Thanksgiving. So when they

conceived of the Holiday Pack for the 2004 holiday season, why in

the world didn't they produce MILLIONS of them? Isn't it obvious

that people would rather drink their holiday dinner than eat it?

 

The interesting thing about the Holiday Pack is that it's not nearly

as harmful to your health as standard sodas. I wouldn't exactly call

these health drinks, but each of the flavors in the Holiday Pack

contains zero carbs, zero sugars, zero caffeine, zero fats and zero

calories.

 

What this means, of course, is that at some point you're going to

actually have to eat something in order to get some nutrition.

 

But in spite of the sellout, there's still a chance you could put your

hands on a Holiday Pack. You can enter your name on a waiting

list at the Jones Soda web site (jonessoda.com), and they'll contact

you if they " find additional units available. " You can also check

the Jones Soda distributor network on their site to see if there's a

distributor near you. And the Holiday Pack may still be available at

some Target stores.

 

If you do happen to score a Holiday Pack, please send an e-mail to

let us know if you can actually stomach a bottle of Turkey &

Gravy soda. Cranberry soda? Not a problem. But Turkey & Gravy

soda? Green Bean Casserole Soda? I have to confess, those don't

really pique my thirst – or my appetite.

 

To Your Good Health,

 

Jenny Thompson

Health Sciences Institute

 

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Sources:

" Olive Oil, the Mediterranean Diet, and Arterial Blood Pressure:

The Greek European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and

Nutrition (EPIC) Study " American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,

Vol. 80, No. 4, October 2004, ajcn.org

" Olive Oil Reduces Blood Pressure " NutraIngredients.com,

11/4/04, nutraingredients.com

 

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