Could A Mediterranean Diet Help Reverse Metabolic Syndrome?

Recent findings published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) show that metabolic syndrome could be helped with a Mediterranean supplemented diet.

"In this large, multicentre, randomized clinical trial involving people with high cardiovascular risk, a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil was associated with a smaller increase in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome compared with advice on following a low-fat diet," said Dr. Jordi Salas-Salvadó, Human Nutrition Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universitat Rovira i Virgili and Hospital Universitari de Sant Joan de Reus, IISPV, Reus, Spain, with coauthors, in a news release. "Because there were no between-group differences in weight loss or energy expenditure, the change is likely attributable to the difference in dietary patterns."

Statistics show that about 25 percent of adults deal with this health issue--a syndrome that exists based on the presence of three or more factors, including large waist circumference, high blood pressure, low HDL-cholesterol, high levels of triglycerides and high blood sugar concentrations that can increase the risk of diabetes.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from the PREDIMED randomized control trial that included men and women aged 55-80 years old at a high risk of heart disease. All participants were randomly assigned to one of three diets: a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil, a Mediterranean diet supplemented with nuts or a low-fat diet as the control.

A second analysis also examined the long-term effects of the Mediterranean diet on metabolic syndrome in 5801 people, revealing that about 64 percent of the participants had some symptoms of this health issue.

"In this large, multicentre, randomized clinical trial involving people with high cardiovascular risk, a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil was associated with a smaller increase in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome compared with advice on following a low-fat diet," added Dr. Jordi Salas-Salvadó, Human Nutrition Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universitat Rovira i Virgili and Hospital Universitari de Sant Joan de Reus, IISPV, Reus, Spain, with coauthors.
"Because there were no between-group differences in weight loss or energy expenditure, the change is likely attributable to the difference in dietary patterns."