Timothy Harlan, MD, on the Mediterranean Diet for Heart Health

Timothy Harlan, MD, gives a preview of his session at our Practical Updates in Primary Care 2021 Virtual Series on May 13, in which he will discuss practical uses for the mediterranean diet based on new scientific literature.

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For more information about PUPC 2021 Virtual Series and to register for upcoming sessions, visit https://practicalupdates.consultant360.com/.

Timothy S. Harlan, MD, is a board-certified internist and professional chef. He is an associate professor of medicine at George Washington University and the executive director of the GW Culinary Medicine Program. 

TRANSCRIPT:

Dr Timothy Harlan:  I'm Dr Timothy Harlan. I am the executive director of the Culinary Medicine Program at George Washington University. At this year's Practical Updates in Primary Care, I'll be presenting on Mediterranean diet and an update on Mediterranean diet. We have presented on Mediterranean diet at prior conferences.

There's been just a tremendous amount of research in the last few years, and we'll work in the time allotted to hit some of the high points of those. When I say Mediterranean diet to most folks, they think foods like Greek salad, hummus, or recipes, maybe olive oil or red wine.

There is a practical way to use the Mediterranean diet literature in your practice day to day that gets you to changing the dialogue that you have with your patients about food.

Our main goals at the upcoming discussion will be to look at a broad overview of the history of the Mediterranean diet literature, how this came to be, and then the impact that this has had, both in observational trials as well as in good‑quality, randomized, controlled trials. 

Learners should be able to come away with the ability to cite the literature but, most importantly, how to use the 9‑Point Mediterranean Diet Score as a tool in the examination room to have a really substantive dialogue with your patient about changing what they eat, which can lead to dramatic improvements in their longevity but also in morbidity and irrespective of weight loss. This lecture is going to be more about the quality of calories than the quantity of calories.

We look forward to seeing you at this year's Practical Updates in Primary Care. I'm Dr Tim Harlan. Thanks very much.