We’ve seen over and over again that the Mediterranean diet is associated with improved health over many systems, including the cardiovascular system, nervous system, and digestive system (just to name a few). Specifically here on this blog, we’ve seen studies showing that the Mediterranean diet is beneficial for reducing the
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A new study published in the European Journal of PreventiveCardiology aimed to take the research on the Mediterranean diet and diabetes a step further, and examined the relationship between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and mortality in people with diabetes.
1995 Italian adults with diabetes participated in this study. Food consumption habit information was collected by using self-reported questionnaires, after which results were given Greek Mediterranean Diet scores. Participants were followed for a total of 4 years.
Important Findings:
After 4 years, 109 patients had died (51 of them due to cardiovascular factors).
A 2 point increased in the Greek Mediterranean Diet Score was associated with an average 37% decrease in overall mortality in patients with diabetes.
A similar association was found when only those with cardiovascular mortality were the focus of analysis.
Adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet reduced the risk of death in diabetes patients.
The individual factors in the Mediterranean diet that contributed to this decreased risk of death and overall mortality in diabetes patients were:
Moderate alcohol consumption.
High consumption of cereals.
High consumption of vegetables.
Reduced consumption of meat and dairy products.
Overall, the results of this study suggest that for those people with
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diabetes, adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet reduces the risk of mortality and death. Specifically, moderate consumption of alcohol, as well as high consumption of cereal and vegetables and low consumption of meat and dairy products were all associated with this reduced risk of mortality and death in diabetes patients.
As we age and increase our risk for a variety of ailments and diseases, quality of life becomes very important to our overall well-being. Healthy diets have been shown to decrease the risk
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and/or severity of many of these diseases, which begs the question “does a healthy diet result in an overall increase in quality of life as we age?”
A new study accepted into the journal Experimental Gerontology asked this very question and examined associations between diet and reported quality of life in older adults.
2457 (53% women) Australian adults between the ages of 55 and 65 participated in this study. Diet and quality of life were determined via a self-reported mail-in questionnaire.
Diet quality was scored based on the Dietary Guideline Index (DGI), recommended food score (RFS), and the Mediterranean diet score (MDS).
Quality of life was scored based on the RAND-36 test.
Important Findings:
For men, higher DGI and RFS scores were associated with higher energy.
For men, higher DGI scores were associated with better overall health, both physical and mental.
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For women, higher DGI and RFS scores were associated with better physical function, and better overall health.
For women, higher DGI, RFS, and MDS scores were associated with better emotional well-being and better energy.
The results of this study suggest that diet quality is positively associated with a better quality of life in older adults. Specifically, a better diet (and one that focuses on Mediterranean-style diet patterns) resulted in happier, more physically fit, and self-reported overall better health in older Australian adults.
