The Mediterranean diet is so famous thanks to the studies conduced by Dr. Ancel keys (The father of the Med diet concept) about the lower heart disease rates of Mediterranean people.
The origin of this health benefits was attributed to their dietary patters.
Dr. Kowalski suggests to eat
Olive oil (rich of mono-saturated fats, good for cholesterol)
Avocados
Nuts
Fish, rich of omega 3 fatty acids
All not processed grains (i.e. withe bread)
Some dairy (cheese and yougurt) [See French low heart diseases rate]
Red Wine
Some low fat red meat like lamb
Fruits and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are the best foods to lower high blood pressure. They have a special mineral that lower blood pressure, Potassium.
It balances the sodium (salt) amount, the main cause of high pressure.
By following this diet approach you can lower your blood pressure of 68 points.
Here a video and examples and info about the Mediterranean diet pyramid to help people with high cholesterol. This is a 2 series videos on learning how to reduce bad cholesterol levels and what foods to eat for reducing cholesterol.
In this video I’ve found in Youtube the author say:
Many people believe that the olive oil in the Mediterranean Diet is part of what makes it healthy. Wrong! The diet is healthier than the standard American diet because it contains more fruits and vegetables, period. Substituting olive oil for the fats found in most American diets is healthier, but if your object is to avoid heart disease, avoid olive oil.