Traditional Mediterranean meals help prevent diabetes

According to a study published on the British Medical website, a traditional Mediterranean diet can prevent type 2 diabetes.

A Mediterranean meal is rich in olive oil, cereals, fruits, peanuts, vegetables, fish but few meat, dairy products and alcohol.

Current evidence suggests that such diets help prevent cardiovascular disease, but there is not much information available about its role in the risk of diabetes in healthy populations.

The SUN study is about to be conducted on 13,000 graduates of Navarra University (Spain) without a history of diabetes. They were recruited from December 1999 to November 2007, and monitored their health and eating habits.

Participants must first complete the frequency questionnaire of 136 foods to determine their entire diet. The questionnaire also includes sentences on the use of fats, oils, processing methods as well as accompanying diets.

Every two years, participants are sent a follow-up questionnaire about diets, lifestyles, dangerous agents and medical conditions. Through medical reports, researchers identified cases of diabetes.

A Mediterranean meal is rich in olive oil, cereals, fruits, peanuts, vegetables, fish but few meat, dairy products and alcohol.(Photo: iStockphoto / Angel Rodriguez)

During the later period (nearly four and a half years) researchers from Navarra University found that participants who were closest to the traditional diet were at the lowest risk of diabetes.Adherence to the diet reduces the risk of diabetes by 83%.

Interestingly, participants with traditional diets have the highest risk of diabetes such as age, families with diabetes, most of them have ever smoked. Therefore, this group of participants should have been cases of diabetes but the reality was not. According to the authors, they are at lower risk of diabetes because their diet has helped prevent the disease.

The main defense feature of the traditional diet is the amount of fiber and vegetable fat, while containing less fatty acids, moderate alcohol content. In addition, the key factor in traditional meals is the use of pure oil in processing, frying, using bread, or mixing salads. Researchers have mobilized a larger number of participants and combined many tests to verify their results.