Obesity rates are roughly 30% across Europe, and as a result obesity related disorders are a significant burden with regard financial and social costs. The exact cause of obesity is not known, but in recent years a transition has occurred away from the traditional viewpoint that weight gain results from a simple energy imbalance. The most recent evidence suggests that obesity is a disorder of inflammation, caused by low quality diets, that disrupts metabolic pathways and results in oxidative stress and cellular changes to insulin receptor function. High quality diets rich in whole grains, red wine, fruits, vegetables and oil fish have been shown to decrease the risk of obesity related ill health. The Mediterranean diet is considered a high quality diet and results from clinical trials have supported evidence gathered from epidemiology, as to the protective effects of the diet against developing metabolic syndrome.
The traditional Mediterranean diet is still eaten in parts of Greece, although Western style nutrition has become popular in recent times. However, it is unclear as to the population dynamics associated with maintaining traditional food intakes, or how this alters risk of disease. Investigating the diets of Greek individuals who have become obese is therefore of interest to scientists wishing to understand how dietary changes may effect metabolic parameters. To these ends, researchers1 have analysed the dietary habits of a population of overweight or obese Greek subjects (30 men, 169 women; body mass index >25kg/m2) in order to identify the dietary patterns that might be responsible for their weight gain. Individuals were divided into 3 groups: adherence to the Mediterranean diet, those not adhering to the Mediterranean diet with high fat intake, and those not adhering to the Mediterranean diet with high carbohydrate intake.
The results showed that those individuals adhering to the Mediterranean diet has a significantly lower incidence of metabolic syndrome than those not adhering to the diet. The risk of metabolic syndrome in the Mediterranean diet group was 27.3%, compared to 69.2% in the high carbohydrate group and 60.4% in the high fat group. In addition, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and post challenge glucose levels were also significantly lower in those subjects adhering to the Mediterranean diet. Data from this study supports a role for the Mediterranean diet in the prevention of metabolic disorders associated with the development of obesity related diseases. The 20% lower odds of developing metabolic syndrome with the Mediterranean diet was irrespective of sex of the subjects, but those in this group had a higher mean age, suggesting that younger individuals are adopting Western style nutritional practices to the detriment of their health.
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