Saturday

Dr. Serge Renaud and Dr. Michel de Lorgeril receive the Grande Covian Award for their promotion of the Mediterranean Diet

The two French scientists received the award from the Mediterranean Diet Foundation for their contribution to the dissemination of this lifestyle.

Dr. Serge Renaud, Director of Research at INSERMED in Bordeaux and Professor at the Université de Montreal, and Dr. Michel de Lorgeril of the National French Centre for Scientific Research and Professor at the School of Medicine of Grenoble, received at the Sala Martí Humà of the Museum of History of Barcelona the Grande Covian Award, granted by the Mediterranean Diet Foundation (FDM).

The scientific committee of the FDM has decided to jointly grant the award to the two French researchers “for their long career in the field of research”, which has resulted in numerous articles and publications, which give scientific support to the benefits of the Mediterranean Diet as a lifestyle that can contribute to disease prevention.

One of the greatest researchers that France has provided during the twentieth century, Dr. Serge Renaud, Director of Research at INSERM in Bordeaux and professor at the Université de Montreal, is the scientist that has contributed to the discovery of the benefits of win and of the Mediterranean Diet for the health of the French, describing what is known as the French Paradox. He has published over 200 scientific papers on the relationship between diet (especially omega-3 fatty acids and monounsaturated) and cardiovascular disease. Together with Dr. Michel de Lorgeril, he conducted the famous Lyon Heart Study, a key tool in enhancing the role of the Mediterranean Diet in enhancing the role of the Mediterranean Diet in tertiary prevention. Thanks to these studies the quality of fats in food are beginning to be valued rather than quantity.

Dr. Michel de Lorgeril, cardiologist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research and professor at the School of Medicine of Grenoble, has dedicated more than 30 years to reveal the importance of the diet on health, demystifying the importance of cholesterol and putting emphasis on the importance of the quality of fats in the diet. He has strongly promoted the Mediterranean Diet not only for prevention but also for the treatment of coronary disease. This advanced and sometimes controversial scientist, participated with Prof. Renaud in the Lyon Heart Study mentioned above in addition to numerous papers published over 150 scientific articles and several popular books.

Both have closed the VIII International Conference on the Mediterranean Diet with their lecture on the benefits of this lifestyle and nutrition.

Serge Renaud and Michel de Lorgeril are added to a long list of winners in previous editions, among which are Dr. Valentí Fuster, director of the Cardiovascular Institute at Mount Sinai Medical Centre in New York, and Dr. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, director of the Centre for Obesity Research in New York.

The award was established by the FDM in honor of Francisco Grande Covian, Asturian biochemist researcher and great scholar and defender of the Mediterranean Diet. Grande Covian made popular his extensive scientific knowledge on nutrition, disseminating it in a simple and emphatic way, with two basic facts: that the healthiest diet “is to eat everything but in moderation” and that olive oil is extremely beneficial.

On February 15th 1996, the Spanish Government, in regard to his dedication to the study of nutrition, his scientific contribution and his defense of the Mediterranean Diet, posthumously awarded Professor Grande Covian, the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit in Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

In order for these same merits, the FDM decided to institute the Grande Covian Award to distinguish a personality from the scientific world for their contribution to a better understanding of the influence of the diet on health. This distinction also values the human and personal qualities of the honouree, beyond his professional career. The Grande Covian Award recipient becomes an Honorary President of the FDM’s Scientific Committee.

The FDM has also granted the Honorary Diplomas, recognizing the career of personalities from other sectors that have contributed to the dissemination of Mediterranean culture.

This year, the Foundation has recognized the work of the following people:

- PREDIMED Study (Prevention with Mediterranean Diet), the first trial to evaluate a sample of 7,500 people in nine autonomous communities without symptomatic cardiovascular disease, the benefits during 6 years of following the Mediterranean Diet in primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

- The SUN Study (University of Navarra Follow-up), an epidemiological cohort in the style of Harvard University in the United States, with 20,500 participants recruited, studies and followed for more than 10 years.

- Rosa Maria Esteva, active entrepreneur in the world of restaurateurs, the group “Tragaluz”.

- Dr. Abel Marine, Distinguished Professor of Nutrition and Food Science, School of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona.

- Active Soria Foundation and the Scientific Foundation of Caja Rural Soria, key players in the mobilization of the Sorian society to actively participate in the visualization of the support of the civil society for the UNESCO nomination.

- Juan Antonio Corbalan, elite athlete and sports medicine physician.