Grant: Project Grant

The Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) is recognized as a powerful dietary approach for the prevention of chronic diseases such as heart attacks. Physical activity is also known to have several beneficial effects on heart health. Surprisingly, very few studies have investigated the combined impact of MedDiet and physical activity on health. The objective of the proposed research is therefore to investigate how consumption of a MedDiet combined with an exercise training program ameliorate the blood lipid response to the consumption of dietary fat, which is a key risk factors for heart disease. The proposed research will also allow us to describe the biological mechanisms through which the combination of MedDiet and physical activity influence this risk factors and many others. This will be one of the largest and most sophisticated studies to date on the combined impact of MedDiet and physical activity on major risk factors for heart disease. Results will be of great importance in helping health organization craft future guidelines related to diet and physical activity for the prevention of chronic disease.