A group of Spanish researchers have recently published a paper examining the association between consistent Mediterranean diet consumption and risk of frailty in older community-dwelling adults.

A prospective cohort study looking at 1815 Spanish adults over the age of 60 was employed to examine this relationship.

At the beginning of the study, the “degree of Mediterranean Diet adherence” was determined for each study participant, which basically described how strict the participant was in terms of sticking to a Mediterranean-style diet, as well as various frailty measures including: exhaustion, muscle weakness, low physical activity, slow walking speed, and weight loss.

Participants were followed over 3.5 years.

Important findings:

• Participants adhering to the Mediterranean diet the most had the lowest risk of slow walking and weight loss.
• Risk of frailty was inversely associated with fish consumption (i.e. less fish = greater risk of frailty).
• Risk of frailty was inversely associated with fruit consumption (i.e. less fruit = greater risk of frailty).

In general, this study of older community-dwelling adults in Spain showed that sticking to a Mediterranean diet reduces their risk of frailty.

Source:

León-Muñoz, L.M., Guallar-Castillón, P., López-García, E., and Rodríguez-Artalejo, F. 2014. Mediterranean diet and risk of frailty in community-dwelling older adults. JAMDA 15: 899-903.