Please pass the olive oil: Mediterranean diet may cut diabetes risk[SIZE=-1]Like many people, I find the promises of the Mediterranean diet enticing: a healthy weight and a lower risk of heart disease, all delivered in a palatable array of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts and fish, cooked or served with olive oil, and perhaps washed down with a glass of red wine. But have I switched culinary hemispheres to adopt a Mediterranean menu? Not yet. Well, now I may have more reason to do so.
A new study reports that the Mediterranean diet can also lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. Researchers in Spain used detailed questionnaires to track the eating habits of more than 13,000 Spanish university graduates for several years. They found that those who closely followed a Mediterranean diet (which includes little red meat and only a moderate amount of dairy) reduced their risk of developing diabetes by 83 percent.
Interestingly, those people who stuck closest to the diet were more likely to have risk factors for getting diabetes, such as being older, having family members with the disease and having smoked. You might expect this group would still be more likely to get diabetes than other people in the study, despite closely following the diet, but they actually had a lower risk. This, the authors say, suggests that the Mediterranean diet can provide significant protection against diabetes.
What you need to know. Type 2 diabetes is a serious disease that, over time, can lead to problems with your heart, eyes, kidneys and other parts of your body. It's possible that a Mediterranean style diet may help prevent it developing, although we need more research to know for sure. With rates of type 2 diabetes on the rise in the United States, the study provides some welcome good news.
I, for one, am going to rethink my next burger. Fish paella anyone?
?Sophie Ramsey, patient editor, BMJ Group
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