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The Mediterranean diet emphasizes healthy fats, such as olive oil, nuts, seeds, and oily fish, as well as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes. It has often been considered the healthiest and most sustainable diet, because of its fresh, tasty, but not restrictive offerings.
Research has linked the diet to reduced stress, heart health, and now a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, especially in women. But how?
To find an association, the researchers asked each participant to rate their Mediterranean food intake from 0 to 9: higher numbers for fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and fish; mid-range for moderate alcohol consumption; and low scores for red or processed meat.
To rule out underlying health issues, they also measured vital signs, like cholesterol, lipoproteins in the body, and insulin resistance.
Women who followed a Mediterranean diet at the start of the study developed type 2 diabetes at a rate 30% lower than those who did not. People without insulin resistance were the least likely to be at risk for diabetes.
“Most of this reduced risk associated with the Mediterranean diet and type 2 diabetes has been explained by biomarkers related to insulin resistance, adiposity, lipoprotein metabolism and inflammation,” said Ahmad in a press release. “This understanding can have important downstream consequences for the primary prevention of diabetes disease.”
That said, there are limits to the research. For example, most of the women in the study were white and well-educated, and all worked as healthcare professionals, which reduced the diversity of the research pool. Additionally, the diet was self-reported and therefore may not be as accurate.
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