Mediterranean Diet Reduces Diabetes Risk, Study Shows

Well|Mediterranean Diet Reduces Diabetes Risk, Study Shows

Powerful new evidence suggests that following the Mediterranean diet while also cutting calories and increasing physical activity reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

A large randomized trial in Spain found that older adults at risk of diabetes who followed that diet, reduced their caloric intake and exercised regularly were 31 percent less likely to develop the disease after six years, compared with those who just followed the Mediterranean diet. The diet emphasizes fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, olive oil and fish.

The findings build on results from an earlier, related trial, which found that participants who simply followed a Mediterranean diet were 30 percent less likely to develop diabetes than those who followed only a low-fat diet. (In that trial participants did not restrict calories, increase physical activity or experience weight loss.)

The study, published Monday in The Annals of Internal Medicine, adds to a large body of research showing that dietary patterns, physical activity and weight loss can reduce the risk of diabetes and other chronic diseases.

“It confirms a lot of what we know,” said Elizabeth Selvin, a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Diet and activity “are some of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes,” said Dr. Selvin, but are hard to study. This type of large randomized trial of dietary and behavioral interventions, carried out over several years, is difficult but important to do, she added. That’s because randomized trials offer the strongest evidence that a given intervention, and not some other factor, is causing the difference in outcomes observed between two groups.