Mediterranean Diet Helpful for Long-Term Healthy Weight

by | Mar 10, 2009 | Alternative Therapies, Fruits and Vegetables

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. In a random sample of 206 adults in Spain, those with the lowest intakes of fruits and vegetables gained 78% more weight than those with the highest intake over ten years.

The Mediterranean Diet (MD) is characterized by high consumption of olive oil, fish, nuts and fruits and vegetables.  Its health benefits have been shown to include not contributing to obesity (1).  Now a new study (2) has found that the MD may not only help with obesity, which costs our healthcare system as much as $250 billion per year (3), but it may do so over a period as long as 10 years.  In the study, researchers randomly selected 206 people representing residents older than 15 years of age in Valenica, Spain (4).  Information was collected on weight and body mass index, physical activity, television viewing, educational level, marital status, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, sleeping habits, and medical history variables over the course of 10 years.

The residents also provided information on their consumption of 10 different fruits (orange; apple; peach, nectarine, or apricot; watermelon, or melon; grapes; cherry; strawberry; fig; banana; olives) and 12 different vegetables (garlic; egg plant, zucchini, or cucumber; onion; mushrooms; cabbage; spinach; asparagus; green, red, yellow pepper; tomato; lettuce; carrot; legumes) (5)

The researchers found that weight gain over the course of 10 years was “significantly lower” among those with the highest intakes of fruits and vegetables.  Specifically, those with the lowest intake of fruits and vegetables (less than 362 grams per day) gained 78% more weight (15.84 lbs vs. 3.52 lbs gained) than those with the highest intake (more than 698 grams per day) over the course of 10 years.  These results confirm previous studies in postmenopausal women (6) and other research looking at fruit and vegetable consumption and significant weight gain (more than 55 lbs weight gain) (7).

For the researchers, “high intake of fruits and vegetables in Mediterranean populations may reduce long-term risk of subsequent weight gain and obesity among adults.”

Source: Vioque, Jesus, et al. “Intake of fruits and vegetables in relation to 10‐year weight gain among Spanish adults.” Obesity 16.3 (2008): 664-670.

© 2008 The Obesity Society

Posted March 10, 2009.

Reference:

  1. Trichopoulou A. Mediterranean diet in relation to body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio: the Greek European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Study.  Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, Nov 2005; 82: 935 – 940.
  2. Vioque J.  Intake of Fruits and Vegetables in Relation to 10-year Weight Gain Among Spanish Adults.  Obesity 16: 664-670; advance online publication, January 17, 2008.
  3. “Focus on Childhood Obesity” posted on http://www.iom.edu/CMS/22593.aspx
  4. Vioque J, Torres A, Quiles J. Time spent watching television, sleep duration and obesity in adults living in Valencia, Spain. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2000; 24:1683–1688.
  5. Willett W. Reproducibility and validity of food-frequency questionnaires. In: Willet W (ed). Nutritional Epidemioloy. Oxford University Press: New York, 1998, pp 101–147.
  6. Howard BV, Manson JE, Stefanick ML et al. Low-fat dietary pattern and weight change over 7 years: the Women’s Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial. JAMA 2006; 295:39–49.
  7. He K, Hu FB, Colditz GA, Manson JE, Willett WC, Liu S. Changes in intake of fruits and vegetables in relation to risk of obesity and weight gain among middle-aged women. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2004; 28:1569–1574.