Galician broth or rye bread are two of the emblems of Galician cuisine. And both contain foods from the so-called Atlantic diet, a dietary pattern originating in Galicia and Portugal that has been analyzed for more than a decade in a study by the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM), which has determined that this diet is key to lower mortality in Europe. Research has shown an association between following this type of diet and a reduction of up to 15% in mortality in Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland and the United Kingdom. But is this diet as beneficial as the Mediterranean? The experts do not agree.
The UAM study, the most important that has been carried out on the Atlantic diet according to one of the researchers, Adrián Carballo, was based on data from 36,000 people between the ages of 18 and 96 from four European cohorts: Enrica a Spain, Hapiee in the Czech Republic and Poland and Whitehall in the United Kingdom. What are the foods that make this diet so beneficial? Carballo points out nine: fresh fish, red meat and pork sausages, dairy products, legumes and vegetables, soups, potatoes, wholemeal bread and moderate wine consumption. In this sense, it should be remembered that the WHO warns that it is necessary to moderate the consumption of both red meat and processed meat, since excessive consumption is linked to a greater probability of having colorectal cancer. Likewise, the WHO also considers alcohol to be addictive, toxic and carcinogenic and warns that there is no safe dose.
From the previous list, only potato consumption was associated with higher mortality, points out the researcher. Thus, according to the study, this diet is related to a lower risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease and cancer, specifically digestive and respiratory system, points out Carballo.
Until now, the studies carried out around the Atlantic diet showed “better indicators” of cardiovascular risk and risk of myocardial infarction and mortality for those who followed it in Spain, but it had never been verified how it worked outside the country.
Despite the presence of legumes and vegetables, the doubt arises as to whether the Atlantic diet is as beneficial as the Mediterranean. The two patterns are “brothers” and share a very similar base, and the nutritional value is “similar” thanks to the abundance of whole grains, vegetables and olive oil, points out Alba Coll, nutritionist at the Alicia Foundation. Coll praises that it is a diet rich in fiber and highlights, as one of the differences with the Mediterranean diet, the consumption of fish and, especially, dairy, although he recognizes that it is more protein. Miguel Ángel Martínez González, professor of preventive medicine at the universities of Navarre and Harvard, and one of the most recognized experts in the Mediterranean diet, is not so optimistic about this dietary pattern, who points out that with the Mediterranean pattern “there are a lot of scientific evidence” and more studies than with the Atlantic, which he defines as “a bit of a laboratory” because he has to make modifications to be healthy. According to the expert, the study has taken out of what is consumed in the Atlantic diet “everything that epidemiological science says is bad” and warns that “pick the cherries that interest you”. Martínez González puts pork bran, sausages or red meat as examples of central foods of this diet that are not so healthy.
Regarding red meat, Carballo assures that it is not the same to consume this food in the context of an Atlantic diet, which is usually accompanied by the consumption of legumes, integral bread or green soups, than if it is taken in the form of a hamburger with fries . From the Alicia Foundation they recognize that red meat is not a “friend” for cardiovascular health, but that taking it together with fruit and vegetables “protects against this meat consumption”.
According to Adrián Carballo, in the Atlantic, more weight is given to the consumption of fish, especially cod (rich in calcium, phosphorus and potassium), and dairy and meat products.
There had already been previous studies on the Atlantic diet, but they had been carried out in Spanish and Portuguese populations, where this diet is traditional, explains Carballo. Martínez González regrets that this is an observational study and says that it is very different to carry out a trial, something that has been done much more with the Mediterranean diet, on which he claims that “unique studies” have been done . The UAM researcher recognizes that the Mediterranean diet has been associated with cardiovascular benefits, it is the dietary pattern that has “more evidence of positive patterns for health”, but defends that others such as the Atlantic can have- ne of similar “The Atlantic diet is no worse than the Mediterranean,” says Carballo. The study compared the Atlantic diet with similar dietary patterns such as the DASH diet, adapted for hypertension or the Harvard University Healthy Alternative Index, and found similar results in terms of mortality reduction.
The nutritionist at the Alicia Foundation assures that it is important for a dietary pattern to be sustainable, which for her both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean meet. For Martínez González, there are interesting foods in all diets, “especially if they are natural and without additives”. The expert highlights the abundance of vegetables and fresh fruit as desserts and legumes in the Atlantic. And he points out that one of their greatest values ??is that they are not processed foods. However, he assures that the Mediterranean diet has more “interesting” foods, of which extra virgin olive oil stands out. And he goes on to highlight fruits, legumes, nuts and salads. Despite the high price of the oil, Martínez González defends that the recommendation is four tablespoons and that, therefore, not so much is spent, and ironically states that more is spent on stents or “treating cancers”.
