While the financial planning of Greece, Italy and Spain can be criticized, there’sno questioning the sense behind the diets of their populations. A new study has discoveredthat following a Mediterranean diet is not only good for your heart but isalso good for your brain. Researchers from Columbia University andthe University of Miami found that the cuisine of countries like Greece, Italy and Spainleads to less blood-vessel brain damage than does the American diet, which typicallyinvolves plenty of saturated fats, red meats andrefined grains. The researchers asked 966 people to fill out aquestionnaire on their diet and then sorted participants based on what closest resembledthe Mediterraneandiet, which includes a bigger focus on fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, fish,and olive oil, and a lighter focus on red meats, refined sugar and wheat. Then they gave the participants an MRI and found that people with the highest ratio ofmonounsaturated fats to saturated fats had the lowest amount of blood-vesseldamage. In case you thought food only affected your physical health and appearance,now you know just how severely it affects the mind, too. Continue Reading

http://www.askmen.com/sports/foodcourt_700/716_mediterranean-diet.html ]More...[/url]