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Diet Choices, Mental Health and Cognition

Eating a Mediterranean Diet May Reduce Risk of Developing Binge Eating Disorder

A collaboration between Italian and Spanish researchers has uncovered a possible relationship between binge eating disorder and adherence to the Mediterranean diet.

It is not well know what causes binge eating disorders, though it is understood to be related to mental illness and the compulsive need to eat without actually being hungry.

Studies focusing on the Mediterranean diet have shown that consumption may be related to a possible decreased risk of certain mental illnesses, including depression and anxiety, though until recently, there have been no studies examining possible connections between Mediterranean diet adherence and mental illness related to binge eating.

One recent study looked at a group of individuals at risk of developing binge eating disorders (1472 participants total) and asked them questions about their diet. The answers to these surveys resulted in an adherence to the Mediterranean Diet score for each participant. Questionnaires related to binge eating, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and total body fat were also given to participants to complete.

Important Findings:

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News

Wine, Mediterranean Diet, and Your Health News for 12/11/2014

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News

Wine, Mediterranean Diet, and Your Health News for 12/09/2014

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Photo By Lore & Guille (Flickr: Lambrusco) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo By Lore & Guille (Flickr: Lambrusco) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
News

Wine, Mediterranean Diet, and Your Health News for 12/04/2014

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Photo By Dave Gough (originally posted to Flickr as wine) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo By Dave Gough (originally posted to Flickr as wine) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

 

 

Fertility and Reproduction

Pregnant and Breast-Feeding Mothers on a Mediterranean-style Diet May Have Children with Fewer Allergic Diseases

Does maternal diet during pregnancy have any influence on health outcomes of children relating to allergies? How about when the mother is

Photo Credit: Content Providers(s): CDC/James Gathany [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Credit: Content Providers(s): CDC/James Gathany [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
breast-feeding that child? Does her diet then have an influence on the child’s health?

 

A recent review performed a meta-analysis on 42 studies with a total of greater than 40,000 children to see if maternal diet during pregnancy and during lactation (breast-feeding) played any role in the health of those children.

 

The studies included in the review varied in nature in terms of their experimental protocols: 11 were intervention studies, 26 were prospective cohort studies, 4 were retrospective cohort studies, and 1 was a case-controlled study. Comparing studies with different experimental designs can be somewhat problematic, but there are ways to compare on a more broad scale.

 

Important findings:

  • There were no significant differences overall in eczema or asthma cases in the offspring of mothers eating a diet free of common food allergens. Some of the studies did note some associations, though nothing statistically significant was found.
  • One of the few consistent associations found related to those mothers consuming diets containing a lot of fruits, vegetables, fish, Vitamin D-rich foods, and in general foods pertaining to the Mediterranean diet. Children of these mothers were found to be associated with a lower risk of allergic disease.
  • Foods in the diet of pregnant and lactating mothers that were associated with a higher risk of allergic disease in children included vegetable oil, margarine, nuts, and fast food.

While this meta-review did not find statistically significant differences, it does provide some insights that a Mediterranean-like diet may consistently provide some benefit to their offspring in terms of a reduction in allergic disease prevalence. It can be difficult to compare studies that used markedly different experimental designs after the fact, so this positive association should indicate a need for further research on this topic.

 

Source:

Netting, M.J., Middleton, P.F., and Makrides, M. 2014. Does maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation affect outcomes in offspring? A systematic review of food-based approaches. Nutrition 30: 1225-1241.