Mediterranean Diet Fights Heart Disease, Study Finds

Eating a Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil and nuts lowers the rate of major cardiovascular events, at least among people at increased risk for heart disease, a new study found.

In a randomized trial in Spain in high-risk people, those who ate the Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or mixed nuts saw a reduction in the rate of major cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes by nearly 30 percent compared with a control group eating a low-fat diet, according to Dr. Ramón Estruch of the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, and colleagues.

The results support the use of the Mediterranean diet for "primary prevention" of heart disease, the researchers wrote online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The secret of Daniel Day-Lewis' success

Day-Lewis won his first Academy Award in 1990 for My Left Foot, his second in 2008 for There Will Be Blood and has now made it three for Lincoln.

That tally is bettered only by the inimitable Katharine Hepburn, who secured four best actress Oscars.

Having starred in just six films over the past 15 years, Day-Lewis is famous for being choosy with his roles and for the huge amount of preparation he puts into his characters.

He told the BBC last month that his immersive acting method made "complete sense" to him. "All you're trying to do is lay the groundwork, which might allow the imagination to free itself," he said

"When the imagination frees itself, you have no goddamn idea what's going to happen. So it's not a constrictive or restrictive way of working - quite the opposite."

He added that he found it far easier to stay in character during the filming process, saying: "What would drain me much more, in my case, is jumping in and out of that world that we've gone to such an inordinate length to create for ourselves."

The actor's sister, Tamasin, told the BBC her brother had been "amazingly lucky in his career... and he's made incredible choices."

So is it the combination of his acting method and canny role choice that have led to him bagging so many Oscars?

Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is the only person in film history to win the Oscar award for Best Actor three times. Born in London, England, he is the second child of Cecil Day-Lewis (aka Nicholas Blake) (Poet Laureate of England) and his second wife, Jill Balcon. His maternal grandfather was Sir Michael Balcon... See full bio »