New Evidence for Mediterranean Diet

By Nancy Steinbach
Broadcast: July 16, 2003
This is Bill White with the VOA Special English Health Report.
A study done in Greece says people can live longer and healthier lives if they eat what is known as the 1)Mediterranean¹ diet. Foods included in this way of eating are vegetables, fruit, beans, fish, whole grains and 2)olive² oil. Such a diet generally gets about forty percent of its calories from olive oil and other fats that are considered healthy.
Researchers from the University of Athens and Harvard University Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts did the study. They published the results in the New England Journal³ of Medicine.
The study involved twenty-two-thousand healthy people in Greece. They were between the ages of twenty and eighty-six. The researchers questioned each of them about what they ate and how much they took part in physical activity.
The researchers gave them points for exercise and for each part of the Mediterranean diet they followed. People who ate vegetables, beans, fruit, nuts, whole grains and fish got higher numbers than people who did not eat these foods.
People also received a point for drinking some 3)alcohol⁴ -- about one glass of wine a day for women, two glasses for men. They got no points if they drank more or less than that.
The study lasted for a period of four years. During that time, two-hundred-seventy-five people died. Thirty-five percent of those people died of cancer. Twenty percent died of heart disease⁵.
The researchers found that those who followed the Mediterranean diet were less likely to die than those who did not. Also, the followers⁶ of the Mediterranean diet were less likely to die of heart disease and cancer. And the study showed exercise to be important. The people who exercised at least one hour a day had a twenty-eight percent less chance of dying⁷ than those who did not exercise.
The study also showed a link between following the Mediterranean diet and living to an old age. And it 4)confirmed earlier studies that had suggested the effectiveness of such a diet.
Researchers say it is not just one or two foods in the Mediterranean diet that make the difference -- it is all the foods together. So they say people should eat a lot of fruits, vegetables, beans and fish. They should use olive oil in their cooking. And they should exercise every day.
This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Nancy Steinbach. This is Bill White.

注释：
1) Mediterranean [7meditE5reinjEn] adj.地中海的，地中海民族的
2) olive [5Cliv] n.橄榄
3) alcohol [5AlkEhCl] n.酒精，酒
4) confirm [kEn5fE:m] vt.确定，批准

1 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

2 olive   

n.橄榄，橄榄树，橄榄色；adj.黄绿色的，黄褐色的，橄榄色的

参考例句：

• Have you eaten a kind of fruit called olive?你吃过橄榄这种水果吗？
• She likes olive because It'symbolizes peace.她喜欢橄榄色因为它象征着和平。

3 journal   

n.日志，日记；议事录；日记帐；杂志，定期刊物

参考例句：

• He kept a journal during his visit to Japan.他在访问日本期间坚持记日记。
• He got a job as editor of a trade journal.他找到了一份当商业杂志编辑的工作。

4 alcohol   

n.酒精，乙醇；含酒精的饮料

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors.法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。
• The alcohol is industrial.这些酒精是供工业用的。

5 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

6 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

7 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。