Study of The Mediterranean Diet and Its Significance for Hypertension Prevention

Abstract

The Mediterranean diet is known for its association with reduction in cardiovascular risk, there are some previous studies conducted on the population of this diet that explored and discovered the negative association between several cardiovascular conditions and this diet including hypertension. The issue of hypertension is getting to concern in China because of the unbalanced dietary model and low public awareness. The essential idea of this study is to examine the principle of Mediterranean diet, compare the nutrient intake between the Mediterranean diet population and Chinese diet population to address the differences between the two dietary patterns. The paper also aims to find possible modifications to the Chinese dietary model based on the principle of the Mediterranean diet as potential treatment for hypertension. The result of the study finds the Chinese population generally consumes less fat, vitamins and minerals compared to the Mediterranean diet population. The differences between the urbanization process between the rural and urban area leads to higher dietary lead intake for the urban populations from processed food and therefore increases the risk for hypertension. It is important for the Chinese government to take actions to increase the public awareness of hypertension and provide more educational sources on how to keep a well-balanced diet. Moreover, the Chinese government should also consider making new regulations on processed food to prevent excessive dietary lead intake of the urban populations. More future guidance should be provided in order for the Chinese population to have a better adjusted diet.