The Mediterranean Diet Has Components That May Extend Life
When they looked at the individual components they elucidated that nine components contributed to the benefits, including moderate alcohol consumption, low meat and meat product consumption, high consumption of vegetables, fruit, legume, olive oil, and nuts, and a high monounsaturated to saturated lipid ratio.
Trichopoulou A, Bamia C, Trichopoulos D Anatomy of health effects of Mediterranean diet: Greek EPIC prospective cohort study. BMJ. 2009 Jun 23;338:b2337. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b2337. View Abstract View Full Paper
The immune system is prone to the same grave misfortunes as any defense system handling weapons: collateral damage that comes with the destruction of the enemy on one’s own territory and friendly fire due to mistaken identity. Whereas the collateral damage is the price we pay for clearance of infections, autoimmunity is a pathological process. Nevertheless, the effector mechanisms involved in both processes are the same. Whether environment can be a cause, a trigger or an amplifier of an autoimmune disease are questions that are being intensively investigated.
