Mediterranean vs. Low-Fat Diet

Context

Patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) are often prescribed a low-fat diet by default. The cordioprev-trial directly tested whether a mediterranean-diet was superior.

Dimensions of Comparison

Dimension	Mediterranean Diet	Low-Fat Diet
Primary Fat Source	extra-virgin-olive-oil, tree nuts	Sunflower oil, reduced overall fat
Key Foods	Fatty fish, legumes, vegetables	Grains, lean meats, reduced oils
Clinical Outcome	28.1% lower risk of recurrent major-adverse-cardiovascular-events	Baseline / standard care
Kidney Impact	Attenuated eGFR decline	Less protective
Adherence	High (flavorful, satiating)	Moderate (perceived as restrictive)

Verdict

For secondary prevention in CHD, the Mediterranean diet demonstrates superior outcomes in event reduction and kidney protection compared to a standard low-fat approach.