The Med Diet Helps You Lose Weight, And So Does Everyone Around You

• Eating a Mediterranean diet could improve your health – and that of your family, study suggests.
• Researchers found that dieter’s family members ate healthier and lost weight without actively trying.
• This suggests that sharing meals with people you love could be a useful strategy for healthier eating.
• Visit the Insider home page for more stories.

Try the popular, healthy

mediterranean diet
could benefit not only you, but everyone you live with, suggests new research.

According to a study published on March 3 in the International Journal of Obesity, family members of people who followed a Mediterranean diet lost weight and improved their eating habits, even without following a specific diet program.

The Mediterranean diet, based on the traditional eating habits of countries like Spain, Italy and Greece, is one of the most studied and popular diets for healthy eating. It has been linked to benefits for weight loss, hormonal regulation (including insulin, to help manage or prevent diabetes), healthy digestion, and better physical and mental health as you age.

Researchers from Hospital del Mar and other medical research institutes in Spain examined 114 family members of participants in a study on obesity and the Mediterranean diet. Study participants were encouraged to follow a low-calorie Mediterranean diet with regular sessions of individual coaching and group support.

Their family members – including partners, children, parents, and siblings – have never received specific diet advice or weight loss information.

By the end of the two years, however, family members adjacent to the diet had also started eating Mediterranean-style meals and had lost weight.

Healthy eating can be contagious (in a good way)

Researchers hypothesize that the “halo effect” of healthy eating spreads throughout the household when people cook and eat together.

The study supports this concept, finding that family members were more likely to reap the benefits if they shared more than one meal per day with their dieting loved ones.

The halo effect was even stronger when the person following the Mediterranean diet also did the home cooking, suggesting that they were preparing healthier meals for the whole family.

And 20% of plan members said their spouse even joined them in their regular counseling sessions.

“The effect was contagious, in this context it was, fortunately, a beneficial ‘contagion’, leading to weight loss and improved eating habits,” said Dr Albert Goday, principal investigator of the project. and researcher at Del Mar Hospital in a press release.

However, not all healthy habits have ripple effects.

Dieters have also been encouraged to get regular physical activity as part of their weight loss plan. Researchers found that this didn’t translate to family members getting more exercise, suggesting that fitness may not be as contagious as eating healthy.