Mediterranean lifestyle good for heart patients

People in the Mediterranean countries like Italy, Greece, Spain, France and Malta eat a lot fruits and vegetables, use less of meat but more of peanut oil and rice oil as cooking medium besides consuming a moderate quantity of red wine, the director of Cardiothoracic surgery, Belle Vue Clinic, H K Dasmahapatra, said.

"The diet followed in those countries coupled with adequate physical exercise have largely succeeded in preventing coronary heart problem," Dasmohapatra said quoting the British heart foundation.

"Red wine has anti-oxidant property which too is beneficial for the heart" he pointed out.

The clinic's director of interventional cardiology, Monotosh Panja, has advised practice of yoga for relieving tension and anxiety.

They were speaking at a programme in which a scheme to help cardiac patients by avail of loans to cover the cost of devices required for treatment was introduced.