Mediterranean diet has been a rage in the world of health and nutrition. The diet is known to boost weight loss, manage diabetes and heart health. The diet is rich in greens, vegetables, legumes, nuts, olive oil and good fats. While the diet is mostly plant-based, it includes moderate amounts of fish and red wine too. The new version of the diet is also creating ripples lately, and it may even please meat-eaters. The new version of the Mediterranean diet includes 2-3 servings (250g) of fresh lean pork each week. The findings published in the journal Nutrients showed that the Mediterranean-Pork (Med-Pork) diet delivers cognitive benefits.
"The Mediterranean diet is widely accepted as the healthiest diet and is renowned for delivering improved cardiovascular and cognitive health, but in Western cultures, the red meat restrictions of the diet could make it hard for people to stick to," said Alexandra Wade from University of South Australia.
"By adding pork to the Mediterranean diet, we're broadening the appeal of the diet, while also delivering improved cognitive function," Wade said.
For the study, the researchers examined the cognitive effects of people aged 45-80 years and at risk of cardiovascular disease following a Med-Pork or a low-fat diet (often prescribed to negate risk factors for cardiovascular disease).
According to the findings, Med-Pork intervention outperformed the low-fat diet, delivering higher cognitive processing speeds and emotional functioning, both markers of good mental health.
"Improving people's processing speed shows the brain is working well," Wade said.
"Then, when you add the fact that pork production emits only a fraction of the greenhouse gases compared with beef, and the Med-Pork diet is really ticking all boxes -- taste, health and environment," Wade said.