• The Mediterranean diet has many known health benefits, and experts are still learning about the benefits of this diet.

• One study found that following the Mediterranean diet may help reduce the risk of transitioning from one to more cardiometabolic diseases like heart attacks and strokes, especially over shorter periods of time.

• There are several steps people can take to reduce their risk of cardiometabolic multimorbidity.

THE Mediterranean diet focuses on plant-based foods, uses olive oil, and includes lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

There is a lot of interest in the health benefits of this diet, especially with regard to cardiovascular health.

A recent study published in The nutrition journal examined how following a Mediterranean diet was linked to the risk of developing multiple cardiometabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes And heart attacks.

Researchers found that following the Mediterranean diet can reduce the risks of developing a first cardiometabolic disease and cardiometabolic multimorbidity (multiple co-occurring conditions related to cardiovascular and metabolic health) during follow-up periods of 10 and 15 years.

How the Mediterranean Diet Affects Cardiometabolic Health

As noted in this study, cardiometabolic diseases include conditions such as strokeheart attack and type 2 diabetes. Having two or more of these conditions is called cardiometabolic multimorbidity.

This research aimed to determine whether following the Mediterranean diet could reduce the risk of first cardiometabolic disease and cardiometabolic multimorbidity.

The researchers used data from participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk cohort study.

The research included 21,900 participants who did not have a heart attack, stroke or type 2 diabetes at baseline. The researchers measured participants’ adherence to the Mediterranean diet using two scores: the pyramid-based Mediterranean diet score and the median Mediterranean diet score.

The median follow-up time was 21.4 years, and the researchers looked at the incidence of heart attacks, strokes, type 2 diabetes and death.

They accounted for covariates such as age, education, family history of heart attack or stroke, specific medication use, and physical activity levels.

Throughout the study, 5,028 participants experienced cardiometabolic disease and 734 participants experienced cardiometabolic multimorbidity.

Overall, following the Mediterranean diet has demonstrated benefit. Looking at both types of Mediterranean dietary scores, researchers found that following this dietary pattern was associated with a decreased risk of cardiometabolic multimorbidity over the 21.4-year follow-up.

The researchers then focused on how the Mediterranean diet affected the transition from primary cardiometabolic disease to cardiometabolic multimorbidity.

At ages 10 and 15, the Mediterranean diet was associated with a reduced risk of this transition. Further analysis suggests that this observed reduction in risk may be particularly linked to having a first heart attack or developing type 2 diabetes.

However, over a follow-up of more than 20 years, the researchers did not find a statistically significant reduction in the risk of this transition associated with the Mediterranean diet.

Who benefits most from the Mediterranean diet?

The researchers also conducted additional analyzes to examine how social class might have played a role in the risk association.

Non-manual workers appeared to benefit the most from the Mediterranean diet over a median follow-up period of just over 20 years.

This group saw a decreased risk of first cardiometabolic disease and a decreased risk of transition to cardiometabolic multimorbidity. On the other hand, manual workers do not seem to benefit from this reduction in transition risk.

Rigved Tadwalkar, MDBoard-certified consultant cardiologist and medical director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, who was not involved in this research, shared his thoughts on the study findings with Medical news today.

According to Tadwalkar, “the study provides strong evidence that adherence to the Mediterranean diet can significantly reduce the risk of transitioning from a first cardiometabolic event, such as a heart attack or stroke, to other cardiometabolic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Furthermore, he noted:

Limitations of the study: Do the results apply to everyone?

It is also essential to understand the limitations of this research. For example, the data primarily focused on people of European descent, which limits generalizability.

Participants were also adults aged 40 and older, so examining younger demographics may be useful in future research.

The researchers did not identify participants who had chronic coronary syndromes at baseline, which could have led to an overestimation of the effects of the Mediterranean diet. They also did not differentiate between stroke subtypes.

The researchers initially only measured participants’ support for the Mediterranean, which could have further affected the results.

Additionally, participants also self-reported their dietary choices and adherence, which might not correspond to their actual diet. Other lifestyle information was also self-reported. Additionally, the scoring methods for measuring adherence to the Mediterranean diet were not without risk of error.

The researchers also recognized some possible reasons why adherence to the Mediterranean diet appears to have the greatest effect on the transition from first cardiometabolic disease to cardiometabolic multimorbidity during the 10- and 15-year follow-up periods.

On the one hand, baseline dietary scores might decline to the extent that diet quality is accurately reported over time. Thus, additional research may be needed to examine the long-term effects of the Mediterranean diet on this area of ​​health.

They also noted some reasons for the differences between manual and non-manual workers. For example, their research did not look at specific types of foods, and participants with lower socioeconomic status might have had less varied and nutritious diets.

The findings could also be due to how social class affects other risk factors, such as cardiometabolic disease management and access to preventive care.

What can you do to protect your cardiometabolic health?

Despite its limitations, the study indicates a possible way to act to reduce the risk of cardiometabolic multimorbidity. There are also other steps people can take to reduce their risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

Christopher Berg, MDa board-certified cardiologist at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, Calif., who was not involved in this study, explained that “cardiometabolic multimorbidity is defined as an individual suffering from two or more of the diseases following cardiometabolic conditions:: heart attack, stroke or type 2 diabetes.”

“A simple, clear way people can take to reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke or type 2 diabetes is nicely summarized in the American Heart Association (AHA) text”The essentials of life 8‘”, he stressed.

Berg summarized these recommendations by citing:

1. follow a healthy diet, defined by the AHA as a Mediterranean diet, also including a recommendation to avoid or minimize highly processed or ultra-processed foods

2. engaging in physical activity, defined as more than 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity exercise, such as walking at a brisk pace

3. stop smoking

4. have a healthy quantity and quality of sleep

5. maintain a healthy weight

6. manager cholesterol levels

7. manager blood sugar

8. manager blood pressure.

People can work with their doctors and other specialists for these purposes.

Additionally, it may be important to address potential barriers to adopting the Mediterranean diet so that more people can enjoy this healthy dietary option.

See the original article on Medical news today