Studies have shown that diet has a major impact on heart health. The people of the Mediterranean show how to do it. 

“The heart sometimes trembles and is sick, and this sometimes happens with bad heat and sometimes without heat, and sometimes the sufferers sweat a lot. If the complaints come from excessive heat and too much blood, you should bleed the left hand and rub it with poplar ointment or violet oil. ”The doctor from Würzburg, Ortolf von Baierland, wrote about general heart complaints. Even in the Middle Ages, Johann Hartlieb also recommended preparations of hot and dry nature such as amber, St. John's wort, saffron, cloves, amber or verbena for heart problems.

Then as now, cardiovascular diseases were one of the most common causes of death in Germany. Usually, a healthy lifestyle with little exercise and an unbalanced diet are the reasons why such suffering only arises. However, the right foods can reduce the risk of heart disease: Various scientific studies have shown that plant-based food in particular is an advantage for heart health. But not only vegan, but also Mediterranean cuisine with lots of vegetables can help protect against cardiovascular diseases. In addition, the Mediterranean cuisine stands for conveying the pleasure and joy of eating.

So if you always eat according to the recipes of the Mediterranean cuisine and it is best to start already in childhood, you contribute to better vascular function in young adulthood. This lowers the risk of heart attack, stroke, but also for other chronic conditions such as cancer or diabetes. Health experts came to this conclusion because it was discovered in the 1960s that people in the Mediterranean region were less likely to develop coronary artery disease and to become older than in other countries. And even today, various studies prove the positive effects of the traditional Mediterranean diet with vegetables, lettuce, fish and olive oil.

To accompany this, one and a half to two liters of mineral water, diluted fruit juices or unsweetened fruit and herbal teas should be drunk daily. Caffeinated drinks are only recommended in moderation. And by the way, you lose weight and relieve your metabolism - because obesity, like cigarette and alcohol consumption, is a risk factor for many ailments.

If vessels harden, the cause is mostly deposited fat in the vessel walls. Above all, the unfavorable LDL cholesterol is stored. Its value can be reduced with the help of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which can be ingested through food and not produced by the body. That is why it makes sense to replace French fries, finished products, meat and sausages with walnuts, sea fish and rapeseed oil. Whole grain products also promote digestion - and they fill you up for a long time.

People knew this instinctively in the Middle Ages: While poor farmers naturally had to limit themselves to grain products, rich merchants and feudal lords could increasingly serve up exotic dishes through the spreading Europe-wide trade: They enjoyed vegetable products that came from southern Europe as vegetable seeds, or cod which was brought dry from the Nordic coasts.