An EU-funded study has found that plant compounds called flavonoids may help to protect the heart against heart attack.
A number of research centres took part in the study, which is part of the Flora Project and was led by the University of Grenoble.
Researchers found that rats which ate a diet enriched with anthocyanins, a type of flavonoid, were better protected against heart attacks than those fed on a normal corn diet.
The findings, which are published in the Journal of Nutrition, may not be of benefit to the average Briton, however, as the amount needed to confer this protective effect on the heart is far greater than that found in a typical western diet.
"The anthocyanins content of the traditional Mediterranean diet is much higher than that of the western diet, which might explain why the Mediterranean diet is cardioprotective," said Michel de Lorgeril, head of the Grenoble research group.
An EU-funded study has found that plant compounds called flavonoids may help to protect the heart against heart attack.
