No actual benefits were observed for the less advantaged groups.It suggests people with higher incomes or more education, or a combination of the two, experience the cardiovascular advantages associated with the diet. The Italian study, conducted by a team of researchers at the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention led by Giovanni de Gaetano, thus reveals that benefits are strongly influenced by the socioeconomic position of people.Iacoviello went on to explain, " During the very last years, we documented a rapid shifting from the Mediterranean diet in the whole population, but it might also be that the weakest citizens tend to buy 'Mediterranean' food with lower nutritional value. We have also found a socioeconomic gradient in the consumption of whole-grain products and in the preferred cooking methods. In other words, a person from low socioeconomic status who struggles to follow a Mediterranean model, is unlikely to get the same advantages of a person with higher income, despite the fact that they both similarly adhere to the same healthy diet"

It suggests people with higher incomes experience the cardiovascular advantages associated with the diet. Representational Image. (Photo: Pixabay) Washington: The Mediterranean diet, that emphasizes eating plant-based foods, including vegetables, nuts, fruits and whole grains, in addition to fish and poultry, does not benefit everyone, finds a recent study. We cannot be keeping on say that the Mediterranean diet is good for health -- de Gaetano concludes -- if we are not able to guarantee an equal access to it"..The findings have been published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.Neuromed researchers went further and tried to unravel the possible mechanisms underlying such disparities.Basically, given a comparable adherence to this eating pattern, the study has shown that the reduction in cardiovascular risk is observed only in people with higher educational level and/or greater household income. "Given a comparable adherence to the Mediterranean diet, the most advantaged groups were more likely to report a larger number of indices of high quality diet as opposed to people with low socioeconomic status," explains Licia Iacoviello, head of the Laboratory of nutritional and molecular Epidemiology at the DepartmentFor example, within those reporting an optimal adherence to the Mediterranean diet (as measured by a score comprising fruits and nuts, vegetables, legumes, cereals, fish, fats, meat, dairy products and alcohol intake) people with high income or higher educational level consumed products richer in antioxidants and polyphenols, and had a greater diversity in fruit and vegetables choice. These substantial differences in consuming products belonging to Mediterranean diet lead us to think that quality of foods may be as important for health as quantity and frequency of intake

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