A recent study shows that Mediterranean diet may help people with type 2 diabetes avoid blood sugar leveling medications. Mediterranean diet has also been proven to be a healthy diet plan which can help you lose weight and lower the risk of attaining cardiovascular disease.
Italian researchers discovered that only 44 percent of those on Mediterranean diet required diabetes medication, compared to 70 percent of those on the low-fat diet. This research was conducted on patients with type 2 diabetes.
Mediterranean diet, as described by Dr. Dario Giugliano, a professor of endocrinology and metabolic diseases in Italy, is “a diet high in plant foods, such as fruits, nuts, legumes and cereals, and fish, with olive oils as the primary source of monounsaturated fat and low to moderate intake of wine, as well as low intake of red meat and poultry.”
Dr. Giugliano said, “Eating Mediterranean prevented anti-hyperglycemic drug therapy in about one-third of patients.” He believed the diet to be “a safe and tasty means to delay the introduction of anti-diabetic drug therapy in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic people.”
Other than controlling blood sugar levels, Mediterranean diet has been known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer, thereby reducing the chance of mortality.
Similar to obesity and other ailments, type 2 diabetes is quickly becoming a pandemic as over 90 percent of people with diabetes have this particular type. It is said to be caused largely by excessive body weight and physical inactivity.
Giugliano and his colleagues conducted a research that compared 107 people who ate low fat diet with 108 people who ate Mediterranean diet and its effect on type 2 diabetes conditions. The participants of the study stayed in there for four years and had been recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
The results were astounding after the study concluded. Compared to the low-fat diet group, 26 percent fewer people required diabetes medication in the Mediterranean diet group. Conclusively, this indicates that there was a 37 percent decreased risk of need for medication in the Mediterranean diet group.
In addition, those in the Mediterranean diet group reduced their BMI (body-mass index) by 1.2 points, while the low-fat diet group lowered it by only 0.9 points. Other major improvements in the Mediterranean diet groups were regarding the cholesterol level and blood pressure.
If you are fond of Mediterranean foods, then this diet might be perfect for you. However, if you are not, then talk to your dietician in order to come up with a plan suitable to your likes and dislikes.
With an optimistic look, Giugliano also stated that Mediterranean diet is not only low in carbohydrates, but it also has an impact on insulin sensitivity.
