A recent study claims that people who consume Mediterranean diet apparently lose more weight and appear to have greater improvements in a few risk factors for heart diseases. It was found that as opposed to a low-fat diet, a low-carbohydrate Mediterranean style diet leads to a more positive change in glycemic control and coronary threat issues and postpones the need for antihyperglycemic drug therapy for overweight patients with newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes.
Mediterranean diet apparently comprises of larger quantities of nuts, whole grains, fruits and vegetables as weighed against the standard US diet. Carbohydrates are also apparently used less and larger amount of ‘healthy’ oil and fat like olive oil are used.
The diet may improve the risk factors associated with heart diseases and diabetes in people who have a possibility of contracting the diseases. But, its effects in people who already have the diseases have apparently not been considered, and some direct assessment of Mediterranean and standard diets are supposedly available.
The study, included approximately 213 overweight people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes who were not yet treated with drugs. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups by experts. The first group was apparently given the information they needed to consume a Mediterranean diet. The second group was supposedly given the information that was necessary to eat a low-fat diet.
For four years, these two groups were followed closely. The time it took for the subjects’ blood sugar levels to rise high enough to call for treatment with diabetes drugs was supposedly compared.
It was seen that after 4 years, approximately 44% of the subjects in the Mediterranean diet group apparently required treatment with diabetes as compared to the supposed 70% for the low fat diet group. It was revealed that participants who consumed a Mediterranean diet apparently lost more weight and supposedly had better improvements in a few risk factors for heart diseases.
This study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.