Traditional diets are those that retain their traditional eating patterns and are therefore devoid of modern processed and low quality foods. Traditional diets are therefore high quality diets which contain low amounts of sugar and other processed and refined carbohydrates, high concentrations of fibre (or most do anyway) and high amounts of micronutrients. Many studies have looked at the benefits of adopting a traditional diet in those currently eating a Western style diet, and results from studies such as these show that health can be improved and body fat lost rapidly when the switch is made, even if only some of the items from the traditional diet are included in the menu plan. But what would happen if we took some individuals consuming a traditional diet and we added alternative foods in place of some of their higher quality traditional foods? Well that is exactly what researchers did to a group of Italian individuals living in rural Southern Italy who were consuming their traditional Mediterranean diet1.
The subjects from Cilento were consuming a traditional Mediterranean diet that they had chosen in free living conditions. The added fat content of their diet consisted almost exclusively of olive oil in its unprocessed and unrefined form (extra virgin olive oil). Other foods in their diet consisted of traditional unrefined whole foods. Extensive medical tests were performed on the subjects before their diet was altered to incorporate more saturated fat. In particular, the cereals, vegetables and olive oils that comprised the main part of the Mediterranean diet of the subjects was replaced with cream, cheese, butter and meat. These changes raised the fat content of the diet and lowered the contribution of energy that came from whole grain cereals and vegetables while increasing the total fat content of the diet from around 33 % to around 37 %. Within 42 days of these dietary changes, low density lipoprotein (LDL) blood levels had increased by 19 %, and this was accompanied by an increase in the apolipoprotein B concentrations in the blood.
Therefore, changes to blood lipids that would be indicative (not causative) of an increased risk of cardiovascular disease occurred following only 42 days of making dietary changes to the subject’s traditional Mediterranean diet. But were the changes made to this duet really caused by the inclusion of damaging foods selected by the researchers or were they actually caused by removal of some of the protective foods from the subjects traditional diets? The answer is probably the latter statement here. When the researchers decrease the cereal content of the diet they also reduced the fibre content of the diet. As fibre is a known modifier of blood lipoprotein levels, this is likely the reason for the changes. In addition, the traditional diet of the subjects contained vegetables and olive oil that were removed when changes were made to their diet. Olive oil and vegetables contain numerous phytochemicals that may influence blood lipoprotein levels. Therefore it is likely that the exclusion of fibre and phytonutrients played a larger role than the inclusion of saturated fat.
In addition, the foods added to the diets of the individuals were not really damaging foods. Cheese, meat and dairy are consumed in many parts of the Mediterranean area and there is little evidence that they can influence disease. So the changes in this study were likely due to the lowering of the fibre content of the diet, which supports other research in this area. If we wish to see the real damage caused by incorporation of damaging low quality foods into a traditional diet we should turn to fructose. Studies that have fed rats fructose for only two weeks have managed to cause weight gain, insulin resistance and detrimental blood lipoprotein changes. Such studies have been replicated in humans. Fructose is over consumed in Western nations and is the likely driver of Western lifestyle disease including obesity. Historical records show that when healthy indigenous populations consuming their traditional diets are fed sugar, they quickly develop diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Traditional diets may differ in their composition, but non contain refined white sugar, the likely driver of Western lifestyle disease.
Dr Robert Barrington’s nutritional Recommendation: Incorporating traditional foods into a Western diet increases the quality of the diet. This is because Western foods contain substances that damage the health (metabolic poisons) and also because they are devoid of micronutrients and fibre. The closer the eating pattern resembles a traditional diet of unrefined unprocessed foods, the healthier that diet will become.
RdB
