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An extensive review of academic research has shed new light on the Mediterranean diet’s significant role in preventing obesity.
According to the authors of a study published in Experimental Gerontology, a significant body of trials, observational studies and meta-analyses showed a greater reduction of body weight and body mass index (BMI) compared to the results obtained through the adoption of other diets.
People adhering to the Mediterranean diet tend to lose weight over a long period of time. Furthermore, they show that adhering to the Mediterranean diet usually prevents someone from becoming overweight or obese.- Ligia J. Dominguez, professor, University of Enna faculty of medicine and surgery
The researchers believe that other dietary guidelines might neglect some of the most impactful characteristics of the Mediterranean diet.
“Most of the time, when we talk about nutrition and dietary habits, we tend to focus on very specific aspects, such as the calories found in a specific food,” Ligia J. Dominguez, a professor at the University of Enna’s faculty of medicine and surgery, and co-author of the study, told Olive Oil Times.
See Also:Health News“The Mediterranean diet teaches us that there is so much more to a healthy diet than the contents of food,” she added. “The Mediterranean diet entails not only food but also a Mediterranean lifestyle.”
“One of its main aspects is sociality, which is a crucial part of the Mediterranean diet,” Dominguez continued. “It means eating together, cooking together and adding a strong social context to the meal itself, which also might translate into eating less and choosing quality food.”
According to the researcher, studies show how physical activity associated with the Mediterranean diet and the social aspects of eating adds a layer of positivity that has a significant impact on patients.
“A Mediterranean lifestyle represents a multi-dimensional approach, an antidote to many of the most common triggers of eating compulsions, such as emotional voids or specific pathologies,” Dominguez said.
“Having said this, investigating fats, salt, calories and the many other food contents is, of course, essential for understanding nutrition,” she added. “Based on such investigations, dietary guidelines worldwide have suggested and still propose low-fat diets, as such diets reduce fat consumption, which is rich in calories.”
“Decades after implementing such guidelines, though, there is no sign that the obesity pandemic is being curtailed,” Dominguez continued.
According to the World Health Organization, more than one billion people are obese, a three-fold increase in the last 40 years.
In 2016, about 13 percent of the adult population in the world was obese, a condition associated with many diseases. Obesity is considered one of the most relevant global public health problems.
“This trend should tell us that guidelines based on low-fat diets do not work,” Dominguez said. “People around the world are not showing any compliance with such rigid recommendations.”
“Be it a low-fat diet or a diet which excludes carbohydrates, most people who try to follow such harsh dietary regimes are found to drop out after a brief period of time,” she added.
According to Dominguez, when diet results are considered over an extended period, studies show how the differences between low-fat and low-carbohydrate diets narrow considerably.
After initial success in weight loss, most patients of such dietary regimes return to previous dietary habits.
“Sometimes they even fall victim to the rebound effect when dropping out of a diet regime, ending up eating way more than they used to,” Dominguez said.
“Trials and long-term studies have shown that the percentage of patients dropping out of low-fat and low-carbohydrate diets is similar,” she added.
Studies show that a different approach might yield different results.
“A healthy nutrition pattern which is also tasty and based on fresh produce strictly connected to the local area, such as the Mediterranean diet, is way more appealing for people,” Dominguez said.
According to the researcher, one of the reasons many nutritionists might have neglected the Mediterranean diet is due to its unregulated fat content.
“Most dietary recommendations around the world fix the maximum acceptable amount of calories as fat at about 30 percent,” Dominguez said. “The Mediterranean diet sits between 35 and 45 percent.”
She indicated that this higher percentage of recommended fat consumption has likely impacted the global uptake of the Mediterranean diet for losing weight.
“Still, all the studies we researched – meta-analyses, randomized trials, or even observational studies – all assess that the Mediterranean diet does not provoke any weight gain,” Dominguez said.
“What is more, all of those studies show that people adhering to the Mediterranean diet tend to lose weight over a long period of time,” she added. “Furthermore, they show that adhering to the Mediterranean diet usually prevents someone from becoming overweight or obese.”
As a result, Dominguez believes it is more important to focus on what types of fat are consumed in a diet rather than how much fat is consumed.
“Not all fats are equal,” Dominguez said. “Extra virgin olive oil and its unique properties play a key role, as it has a highly beneficial impact thanks to the monounsaturated oleic acid and other key contents such as polyphenols.”
However, she added that awareness of the health impacts of different types of fats is increasing in the nutrition and weight loss fields.
“Increasingly, the focus is shifting from the goal of quick weight loss to the idea of establishing a healthy nutrition pattern where weight loss can happen across a longer period of time,” Dominguez said.
“Still, the key for the success of such an innovative approach proved to be proposing a more interesting and satisfying dietary pattern to patients, destined to foster dietary compliance and carry results,” she concluded.
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