A Mediterranean-style diet is more effective than a typical low-fat, calorie-restricted diet for diabetes management, new research has found.
Studies touting the health benefits of a Mediterranean-style diet are nothing new, with previous research suggesting it is good for heart health and for weight loss. But this study is among the first to study the diet as a way of helping Type 2 diabetics avoid diabetes medications.
Researchers led Dr. Dario Giugliano, from the Second University of Naples, Italy, randomly assigned 215 diabetic patients to follow either a Mediterranean-style diet or a low-fat diet for four years.
While the diets they ate bore some resemblances, such as an emphasis on less meat and more vegetable intake, those on the Mediterranean diet group were encouraged to eat healthy fats, including olive oil, as well as lean protein sources such as fish, chicken and nuts.
Both groups restricted their daily caloric intake: 1,800 calories per day for men, and 1,500 calories daily for women. And all dieters were encouraged to exercise regularly and received regular nutrition counseling throughout the study.
After four years, while 70 per cent of patients in the low-fat diet group required drugs to lower their blood sugar levels, only 44 per cent of those in the Mediterranean-style diet group did as well.
Patients in the Mediterranean diet group also experienced greater weight loss and an improvement in some coronary risk factors, the researchers report in the September issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The Mediterranean diet group saw significantly greater increases in "good" HDL-cholesterol levels and greater decreases in triglycerides. These heart-healthy benefits were maintained for the entire study.
"Eating Mediterranean prevented anti-hyperglycemic drug therapy in about one-third of patients," said Giugliano in a statement.
"Given that patients with type 2 diabetes still have a twofold risk of death as compared to the non-diabetic population, these potential benefits are intriguing," he noted.
The authors also say their findings reinforce the message that lifestyle changes should not be overlooked as the first way to treat newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetic patients "despite the drug-intensive style of medicine fueled by the current medical literature."
