Six years on the Mediterranean diet cut diabetes risk in older adults by nearly one third
Older adults who combined a Mediterranean diet with calorie reduction, daily exercise and nutritional support were 31 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes over six years, as reported by CTV News.
The results come from Predimed-Plus, an ongoing eight-year randomized clinical trial in Spain involving 6,874 participants between the ages of 55 and 75.
All had body mass indexes between 27 and 40, and each showed signs of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions including high blood sugar, high blood pressure, altered cholesterol and abdominal fat.
None had type 2 diabetes at the start of the study.
According to the study, published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, those in the intervention group followed a Mediterranean diet with a 30 percent calorie reduction, exercised 45 minutes a day at least six days a week, and received structured support from dietitians.
The group lost 3 to 4 percent of body weight on average and reduced waistlines by 1.4 inches, compared with just over one pound and 0.1 inch in the control group.
Coauthor Frank Hu of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health said the findings show that “modest, sustained changes in diet and lifestyle could prevent millions of cases of type 2 diabetes worldwide.”
He noted that reductions in visceral adiposity and improvements in body composition also contributed to lower risk.
Christopher Gardner of Stanford University, who was not involved in the study, described the results as “staggeringly stunning.” He said most trials see benefits fade after one year, but here “the 6 year adherence to these changes, with very little recidivism” stood out.
The New York Times reported that the intervention translated to three fewer diabetes cases per 100 people.
Miguel Ángel Martínez-González, professor of public health at the University of Navarra and one of the study investigators, said the outcome highlights that even modest change made an impact.
Participants in the intervention group also received monthly group sessions, quarterly one-on-one meetings, and regular phone calls with dietitians.
Hu said this ongoing support was intentional. “You want the intervention group to improve their adherence to the diet, to increase their physical activity, and achieve more weight loss than the control group,” he explained.
He added that the only way to achieve this was through increased behaviour intervention sessions.
The control group, by contrast, received only general diet and exercise advice twice a year and were not asked to cut calories or meet activity targets, though they were provided with olive oil to encourage adherence to the diet.
Experts not involved in the trial, such as Tirissa Reid of Columbia University, said weight loss was likely a key driver of the reduced risk. She added that exercise and high-fibre diets also improve insulin resistance and reduce inflammation, further lowering the chances of diabetes.
The Mediterranean diet, as noted by CTV News, emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, seeds, nuts, olive oil and fish, with limited red meat and refined foods.
Beyond physical benefits, it also encourages social eating and mindful lifestyle habits.
