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

In this video, Timothy Harlan, MD, discusses the key takeaways of his session on the mediterranean diet at our Practical Updates in Primary Care 2021 Virtual Series on May 13.

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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. It was great speaking with you today about Mediterranean diet and how Mediterranean diet can impact you and your practice, but also your patient's overall health.

The interesting takeaway for me is always how simple it is to use the 9‑Point Mediterranean diet score to make substantive changes, as you saw in the literature that was cited in today's lecture about improvement in diabetes, improvement in heart disease, improvement in longevity, reduction in risk of cancer, et cetera.

These small simple changes that you can make with your patients put more tools in your toolbox. The great thing to remember about this is that this is not exclusive. It's not either or. The pharmaceuticals and our traditional great‑quality medicine combined with the lifestyle and changes in food that our patients consume, those two are synergistic. 1 plus 1 equals 2.6. We get more bang for our buck when we understand how to have these conversations and help our patients make significant changes in what they're eating.

Again, was great being with you. We look forward to see you again soon.