Figure 9

Michel de Lorgeril is a cardiologist and nutritionist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research and the School of Medicine at Grenoble University, France. In the 1990s he proposed a theory to explain the French paradox (low mortality rate from cardiac disease in France compared with UK and USA despite similar risk profiles), and his research group demonstrated that the plant omega-3 fatty acid (alpha-linolenic acid) is cardioprotective. Michel de Lorgeril was the principal investigator on the landmark Lyon Diet Heart Study, the first clinical trial to demonstrate the beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet in the prevention of ischemic heart disease.