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 from Galicia and Portugal that has been analyzed for more than a decade in a study by the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) determining 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 diet? The experts do not coincide.
The UAM study, the largest carried out on the Atlantic diet, according to one of the researchers, Adrián Carballo, has been based on data from 36,000 people between 18 and 96 years old from four European cohorts: ENRICA in Spain, HAPIEE in the Republic Czech and Poland and Whitehall in the United Kingdom. The results have been published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. 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, whole wheat bread and moderate consumption of wine. Of the list, only potato consumption was associated with higher mortality, the researcher points out. 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, who is currently in Sweden doing a Postdoctoral stay.
Until now, studies carried out on the Atlantic diet showed “better indicators” of cardiovascular risk and a reduced risk of myocardial infarction and mortality for those who followed it in Spain; but it had never been proven how it worked outside the country.
Despite the presence of legumes and vegetables, the question arises as to whether the Atlantic diet is as beneficial as the Mediterranean diet. Both 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 Fundació Alicia. Coll praises that it is a diet rich in fiber and highlights, as one of the differences with respect to the Mediterranean diet, the consumption of fish and, especially, dairy products, although she recognizes that it is more protein.
The professor of preventive medicine at the universities of Navarra and Harvard and one of the greatest experts on the Mediterranean diet, Miguel Ángel Martínez González, is not so optimistic about this dietary pattern, pointing out that with the Mediterranean pattern “there is a lot of scientific evidence.” and more studies and that with the Atlantic, which he defines as “a bit of a laboratory” because he has to make modifications to be healthy. For the expert, in the study of what is consumed in the Atlantic diet, "they take away everything that epidemiological science says is bad" and warns that "pick the cherries that interest you." Martínez González gives lacón, sausages or red meat as an example of central foods of this diet that are not so healthy.
Regarding red meat, Carballo assures that consuming this food in the context of the Atlantic diet, which is usually accompanied by the consumption of legumes, whole wheat bread or green soups, is not the same as eating it in the form of a hamburger with fries. The Alicia Foundation recognizes that red meat is not a “friend” of cardiovascular health, but that if taken together with fruit and vegetables “it protects against this meat consumption.”
For 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 were already previous studies on the Atlantic diet but they had been carried out in the Spanish and Portuguese population, where this diet is traditional, explains Carballo. Martinez González regrets that this is an observational study and assures that it is very different to carry out a trial, something that has been done much more in the Mediterranean diet, than what he affirms 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 “the best evidence of positive patterns for health” but defends that other patterns such as the Atlantic one may have similar benefits. “The Atlantic diet is no worse than the Mediterranean diet,” says Carballo.
The study has compared the Atlantic diet with similar dietary patterns such as the DASH diet, adapted for hypertension or the Harvard University Healthy Alternative Index, and similar results have been found in terms of mortality reduction.
One of the values that both diets share is the presence of fresh products.
The nutritionist at the Fundació Alicia assures that it is important for a dietary pattern to be sustainable, something that 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 fruits as dessert, legumes, in the Atlantic. And he points out that one of its 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 continues 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 as much is spent and ironically states that more is spent on stents or "treating cancer."
