Research has shown that a traditional Mediterranean diet provides assistance in protecting the body from type 2 diabetes.
A Mediterranean diet is abundant in olive oil, grains, fruits, nuts, vegetables, and fish, but low in meats, dairies, and alcohol.
Studies hint that such a diet plays a major role in cardiovascular disease, however, there are not any current studies in how this diet effects the diabetic population.
The study involved over 13,000 graduates from the University of Navarra in Spain with no history of diabetes, and were recruited between December 1999 and November 2007;each participant had their dietary habits and health were tracked.
To start the study off, the graduates all completed a questionnaire designed by the developers of the project. The questions were summarized at 136 and asked the participants specific questions that related to how they cooked, what types of oils they used, and their dietary supplements.
Researchers were able to gather information from the participant’s lifestyle, risk factors, diet, and other medical conditions by administering a series of questionnaires every two years. From this data, scientist were able to pick up cases of the 13,000 that developed diabetes.
The researchers found that participants who stuck closely to the diet had a lower risk of diabetes. A high adherence to the diet was associated with an 83% relative reduction in the risk of developing diabetes.
Interestingly, those participants who stuck strictly to the diet were expected to have the highest prevalence of risk factors for diabetes such as they got older with age, a family history of diabetes, and a higher proportion of ex-smokers.
This assumption proved to be false; If fact, say the authors, they had a lower risk of diabetes, suggesting that the diet might provide substantial protection.
The diet include a high intake of fiber and vegetable fat, a low intake of trans fatty acids, and a moderate intake of alcohol.
In addition, a key element of the diet is the abundant use of virgin oil for cooking, frying, spreading on bread, and dressing salads.
The scientist finished by calling for larger cohorts and trials to confirm their findings.
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