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Mediterranean diet prevents diabetes

6 June 2008

We advise people to follow a healthy diet low in fat, sugar and salt with plenty of fruit and vegetables, and to undertake physical activity regularly so as to reduce the risk of developing the condition

Dr Iain Frame, Director of Research at Diabetes UK

Key facts
  • There are two types of diabetes.
    • Type 1 diabetes is caused by the body not producing insulin properly in the pancreas. Type 1 usually develops before the age of 30. It's treated with medicines (insulin).
    • Type 2 diabetes develops when the body becomes resistant to insulin and occurs more often in people over 40. It may be possible to manage type 2 diabetes without medicines.
  • Insulin is a hormone that helps maintain the amount of sugar in your blood.
  • The Mediterranean diet in the study includes:
    • a moderate amount of alcohol
    • large amounts of legumes (peas, beans, lentils, peanuts)
    • high levels of cereals or grains (wheat, barley)
    • lots of fruit, vegetables and nuts
    • not much meat
    • moderate amounts of dairy foods (milk, yoghurt)
    • lots of fish

Eating a Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of diabetes, according to a new study published in the British Medical Journal.

The study, which took place in Spain, looked at the diet of 13,380 people aged between 20 and 90 for an average of four and a half years. The participants completed a questionnaire to record the food they were eating, and told the researchers if they developed type 2 diabetes.

Only 33 new cases of type 2 diabetes were recorded. The researchers had expected 158 new cases of type 2 diabetes to develop. This was estimated by looking at how many people usually develop type 2 diabetes in the population.

Risk factors for diabetes include older age, people who are overweight, family history of diabetes, medical history of high blood pressure and smoking.

Among the people who mainly had a Mediterranean diet, a large number had risk factors for diabetes yet didn't develop the disease. The study highlights the potential protective effect of a Mediterranean diet.

The main reasons why a Mediterranean diet is thought to help prevent type 2 diabetes includes the high levels of fibre, low levels of fat, a small amount of trans fatty acids and a moderate amount of alcohol in the diet.

Virgin olive oil is also a key ingredient and is used for cooking, frying, spreading on bread and in salad dressings in place of other fats. It contains "good" fats called monosaturated fatty acids rather than "bad" fats such as saturated fatty acids. Previous research has indicated that virgin olive oil may help maintain insulin levels better than managing the sugars (carbohydrates) in your diet.

Dr Iain Frame, Director of Research at Diabetes UK said:"While interesting, this research needs further investigation before any firm conclusions can be made; the study is wholly reliant on participants providing accurate information.

"We advise people to follow a healthy diet low in fat, sugar and salt with plenty of fruit and vegetables, and to undertake physical activity regularly so as to reduce the risk of developing the condition."

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