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Dear Colleagues and Friends,
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Mounting evidence supports: the Mediterranean diet (MD) -rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and olive oil- is the dietary pattern with greatest improvements to health in general.
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For instance, the MD is known to improve the metabolism of glucose; a critical process that is affected in patients with diabetes and an important risk factor for cardiovascular mortality. In this week’s study, researchers described the relationship between the quality of the diet and indicators of glucose metabolism (glycemia, insulinemia and insulin resistance) in families at high risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) from the countries of Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Belgium and Finland. Although the MD was not used as a reference, the group of researchers worked with dietary recommendations with the same principles. Based on a number of anthropometric and biochemical data described here, the team of researchers noticed that participants that more closely followed the dietary advice had lower levels of insulin resistance and insulin levels. Thus, once more and in an international context, the components recommended by MD researchers (nuts, vegetables oil including olive oil, and fruits and vegetables) have demonstrated benefits.
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In addition, for some time now, more and more studies have observed that MD could be also “brain healthful”. This is precisely the objective of this new study protocol aiming to assess the implications of dietetic factors and the way they interact and potentially prevent dementia or other mental-related conditions in elderly people. Based on personal dietetic goals (based on MD) and specific strategies to achieve them, participants’ feedback indicated that the way dietary goals were achieved (problem-solve strategy) eased the consecution of the objectives. Since this is a pilot study, no further results can be commented on, but the methodology itself is of notable consideration for future study designs based on dietary interventions.
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