Mediterranean Diet Tops Low-Fat Regimen in Study of Diabetics

[FarCenter]

By Nicole Ostrow -- http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=aXURhiqNG5Gs

Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Newly diagnosed diabetics who were overweight better managed their disease by eating a Mediterranean diet rich in fish, fruits and vegetables instead of one low in fat, an Italian study found.

The proportion of those on the low-carbohydrate Mediterranean diet who needed diabetes medicine after four years was 44 percent compared with 70 percent for the low-fat regimen, researchers said today in Annals of Internal Medicine. The Mediterranean diet also led to more weight loss and reduction in some risk factors for heart disease, the scientists said.

Diabetics’ ranks worldwide are projected to grow to 380 million by 2025, from 246 million in 2007, according to the International Diabetes Federation, based in Brussels. Newly diagnosed patients are often treated with drugs and urged to make lifestyle changes such as exercising more or eating less fat. The diet study shows that what a person eats can alter the course of the disease, said Christine Laine, the editor of Annals of Internal Medicine.

“You can delay the need for drugs by just making changes in lifestyle,” said Laine, an internist, in an Aug. 21 telephone interview. “When people are willing to make changes in their diet, it might make more sense to be advising a Mediterranean diet rather than a low-fat diet.”

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[tabatha]

1. As long as the fats are from nuts and fish

and avocado.

[DinahMoeHum]

2. and olive oil.

n/t

[tabatha]

6. Thanks, I forgot that important oil.

[bullwinkle428]

25. Canola oil is also included in the diet...

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mediterranean-diet/CL00011/NSECTIONGROUP=2

[Kalyke]

3. Yay!

I may be Southerner, but I eat like I'm from Jordan. :)

Sending this to my Jewish hubby who really should learn to eat Kosher or Halil!

(No porkie has touched my lips since 1995)

[SoCalDem]

4. "fish, fruits and vegetables".. Have you seen the prices for these lately?

except of course for the processed, breaded, pre-cooked varieties:grr:

Cheap food that's bad for people is abundant, but the food that is actually good for us is priced out of many people's food-basket..

My grandfather always said "good food is cheaper than medicine"..and back then it was, but these days, I'm not so sure.:(

Diabetes is a "cumulative" disease, so while kids, teens & 20-somethings are gorging themselves on fast food & junk, they are setting the stage for their diabetes that's headed their way..:(

[Kalyke]

5. Buy in-season.

It's always cheaper.

I am not rich by any stretch of the imagination and I try to stay "on the outside aisles" (where all the non-processed crap is). I stay within a good budget of about $400 a month for a family of four - and that's including paying taxes on food (we pay an awful amount in Tennessee).

It can be done.

[SoCalDem]

7. I do, but many people on tight budgets, look for the cheapest stuff they can find

and that's usually the crap.

IN season fruits are not that cheap either.. right now tomatoes are 2.99 a pound, grapes $1.99 a pound..the cheapest apples are $1.49 a pound, bananas are 79 cents a pound.

People with 3 or 4 kids may look to cheaper 'snacks'.

[tabatha]

9. Tomatoes are one of the easiest things to grow - even in a container.

[SoCalDem]

12. I have a brown thumb..and we have LOTS of bugs..

The last time I grew a garden, the bugs got more than we did:(

[mopinko]

23. don't shop at the grocery store if you can help it.

there are a lot of small mercados and fruit markets near me. i never buy produce at the big chain stores. everything is fresher and cheaper, with more variety at the smaller stores. and the service is better, too.

[CTyankee]

24. Taxes on food? On staples or on stuff like soda and chips?

Good lord, I hop it is the latter and not the former....talk about the biblical "salt tax"...

[tabatha]

8. Have you seen the prices for meat recently?

A handful of peanuts can sometimes fill one for longer than a steak.

[SoCalDem]

11. We are spoiled.. I only buy a few cuts of meat

and pay whatever I have to. Many of our meals are meatless, so I don't mind paying the cost.. It's still cheaper for me to grill a couple of nice filets than it is to order them at a restaurant.

I buy whole chickens & bake them (Thanksgiving style), then debone what's left for chicken salad..& the bones are frozen for soup later on.

I buy ground round 93-7%
and I buy london broils cut 3" thick.. I slice them up & cube them for my recipes.

I refuse to pay for bone & fat :)

[unpossibles]

15. yes and no

I know I've been flamed more than once for saying this, but I first reduced my meat consumption because I could not afford it, and soon became grossed out by it and stopped eating it.

Fresh vegetables are not really cheaper than processed crap in most instances. Fish is often not cheap, but you don't need fish every day or every meal.

I know this is not a popular answer, and obviously it's hard to compete with the dollar menu, but that stuff sucks anyway - I don't think price is the only reason people eat fast food. If it were, they would not be buying unnecessary crap like soft drinks with their meals.

I can cook a good meal from fresh foods (or even mostly fresh foods) for $3-5 per person per meal, and even cheaper for some things like pasta or other simple meals. I do it all the time. And yes, cooking takes a bit of effort, but it's not that hard, and my way around this time issue is to cook extra and eat leftovers when I don't have time to cook. Seriously. A pound of pasta costs between $1-3 and feeds 3-4 people. Even if you buy jarred sauce at another $2-4 that's $3-7 total to feed 3 or 4 people at $3.50 each tops. Throw in a bell pepper and an onion, you're only adding less than a dollar per person. Takes 15 minutes tops. If I want to make something from scratch, it's often cheaper but takes more time.

I do agree it's not easy to eat healthily cheaply, but only because there are so many "cheap" fast foods out there that no one wants to put in the effort. I know that sounds harsh, but it's true. I am not suggesting buying only organic, just fresher more basic ingredients. A bag of rice and a bag of beans cost almost nothing and last for a long time. Olive oil seems expensive but it stretches through many meals, so the per meal cost is low. Same with avocado and nuts.

[d_r]

19. "and even cheaper for some things like pasta "

not to nit-pick here, but I think that the pasta would fall be more consistent with the "low fat" diet, not the med. diet that is less than 50% of calories from carbs.

[unpossibles]

21. there's nothing wrong with pasta in moderation

and last time I checked, people in the Mediterranean area eat pasta. ;)

I'm not saying load up on it, but no reason it can't be part of a meal, and most things in the Mediterranean diet are not super expensive.

Actually, I think moderation is the problem a lot of people have no matter what they eat. I know I sometimes have the same problem; even being aware of portion sizes, when I go out it's far too easy to quickly eat the whole thing instead of slowly enjoying the meal, which tends to make me eat less.

Pasta was only an example of how you can eat cheaply without processed garbage and meat. Basic marinara or some olive oil and herbs are both healthier and cheaper than meat sauce. I just don't like the argument that fresh food is always more expensive; in my experience the opposite is true almost always.

[Jayberwock]

31. Even frozen vegetables are better than nothing.

A bag of doritos costs the same as a box of baby spinach.

Store brand frozen vegetables are surprisingly cheap and make great stir-fry with a tiny amount of leftover meat. You can stretch one chicken breast to feed four people that way.

[unpossibles]

39. exactly. And frozen sometimes retains freshness more than canned nt

[TexasObserver]

10. “You can delay the need for drugs by just making changes in lifestyle,” said Laine

It's good to see this doctor taking a stand encouraging diabetics to eat a healthy diet they choose and adopt, to lower their need for meds.

"The proportion of those on the low-carbohydrate Mediterranean diet who needed diabetes medicine after four years was 44 percent compared with 70 percent for the low-fat regimen, researchers said today in Annals of Internal Medicine."

Wow!

[Ignis]

16. Agreed. It's great to see more preventative care in the US.

I think part of the problem is the paucity of nutrition classes required by most med schools. If M.D.s aren't trained to correctly identify the right input (food) for their patients, they're more likely to rely on costly and invasive corrective measures (drugs/surgery) that have awful side effects.

[TexasObserver]

17. Yes. I am amazed at how seldom doctors mention diet.

My parents are up in years, and when they need things like potassium, they're never told "you could eat a banana every few days." They're told "take this pill."

I've gotten my parents on regimens that include whole grain bread, Dan Active, grape juice, bananas, and Gatorade - all things that have helped them when added to their diets. I'm trying to help them keep their body functions healthy without always resorting to tablets, pills and powders.

[Ignis]

20. Odd, isn't it? It's like they never learned the GIGO maxim.

(Garbage In, Garbage Out)

I'm delighted that my own parents have improved their diets from the Midwestern meat & potatoes diets on which they were raised. I've seen a tremendous improvement in their health and level of energy over the past 5 years, and yet they're taking fewer medications.

:hi:

[TexasObserver]

27. Eating a good mix of fiber, bulk, yogurt and juices keeps the bowel working.

It works so much better when the right stuff is processed through it.

I'm endlessly amazed foods that we need are not mentioned, but pills and supplements are used to replace the foods.

Last year my mom's electrolytes got out of whack, and she was forgetful and couldn't perform mental functions which had been easy for her before. I watched three weeks as she followed her medical directions, which included limiting her liquid intake to try to boost electrolyte levels. I finally brought her a case of Gatorade, and asked her to try drinking a bottle a day and see what happened. On the 5th day, she called to report she had just balanced her checkbook, something she's done every month for the past 60 years. She now keeps Gatorade, and swigs it as she feels a need for it.

I always want to know which foods will best treat an ailment, because there are many conditions that can be treated with diet primarily.

[flvegan]

28. Most physicians you might see don't know shit about nutrition.

It's not really a swipe at them, it's just the truth. Most of them get some piddly-ass training on nutrition. They seem to know a lot about writing 'scripts for drugs, but little about alternatives to them that might result from diet.

My college roomie is a gastrointestinologist (surgeon, no less) and I school him constantly on nutrition.

My mother's doctor HATES me because I'm a big nobody, yet she turned to me several years ago for fitness and nutritional training when he tried to get her on statins and blood pressure meds. Now, at 7...well, seventy something, her cholesterol is in the basement, her blood pressure is perfect and she's in the gym (moving more iron than MEN half her age) 3 times a week and swimming a couple miles 3 times a week. She (thankfully) has no real physical ailments and looks like she's 50. She's sent me a good bit of business, too I might add...which is nice.

[Ignis]

30. That's so cool! (re: your mom)

In addition to moving to a more plant-based diet, my own dear old mum has starting hitting the gym several times a week. It's amazing to look back at pictures from a few years ago and see how much younger and healthier she looks today at 70-something.

The only "downside" is that she's constantly calling and bragging about how great her blood-work was, how healthily she's eating, what a great workout she's had, etc. Now I can't slide into slothful middle age, or she'll kick my ass. :)

---

I've given up blaming M.D.s for being ignorant regarding nutrition, because it's really a product of the purely allopathic training they receive in school. Give them all hammers, and everything looks like a nail.

That being said, I went vegetarian and vegan on the advice of two very great M.D.s, so there's obviously nothing stopping doctors from learning about nutrition on their own.

[flvegan]

33. Yep.

I get those same phone calls, and then when I see her on the weekend now and then, she'll bust out a triceps flex like she's Hulk Hogan. She'll say, "look at that! That's your seventy-x year old mother!" I'm really pleased with the amount of confidence she has because of her healthy lifestyle. Her diet is really clean. Mostly vegetarian with a little bit of tuna or salmon here and there.

[unpossibles]

22. good for you! And I agree it's sad and amazing

how little we pay attention to our diet outside of weight issues.

We literally are what we eat - I think most people forget that, and I'd include a lot of health professionals.

[Canuckistanian]

32. My sister had a potassium deficiency as a child

My mom was really worried about the symptoms, so she took my sister to the doctor.

The doctor prescribed bananas.Problem solved.

How does a kid get a potassium deficiency, anyways?

[TexasObserver]

34. Those were the good old days!

Of course, Canada isn't as owned by Big Pharm as the USA. Here, every doctoral action must begin and end with the prescription pad.

[Odin2005]

29. My 56yo dad is a diabetic and he is very healthy and has lost a lot of weight in the past 10 years.

He was called "Sumo" in high school, weighed over 300 pounds, but now weighs around 190.

[old mark]

13. My cardiologist has me on a South Beach type diet - high protein,

meat and fish, and very low carbs. He has had great success with this diet with type II diabetics. I have lost about 15 pounds inthe last several months on this diet, blood sugar is in normal range - with medication - for the first time in several years, and I feel much better.

Please note before I started this diet my regular morning glucose was around 300 for several years - with medication.

mark

[RandySF]

14. We're doing the Mediterranean diet and love it

If you are like us and live where you can readily find fresh fish, shellfish, fruits and vegetables it's easy to follow and tasty.

[JonQ]

18. It's odd how many different diets

that are radically different, all seem to be healthier for you than ours.

The japanese diet, high in fish and rice seems to be healthy, as does the meditearanean with it's oils and cheeses and wine and so on.

Shows that any single approach to health is likely wrong, we're very complicated machines.

[bullwinkle428]

26. Here's a good food pyramid for the Mediterranean Diet :

[Skittles]

35. aren't fish, fruit and veggies low fat?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

36. Yes, but a lot of people went on extreme low-fat diets

not distinguishing between unhealthy and healthy fats, and making up for the lack of taste in extremely low-fat food by scarfing down sweets and refined carbs.

[Skittles]

37. I think all diets are ridiculous

I eat anything I want but exercise at least an hour a day

[flaminbats]

38. some excellent words from Nick Jonas..

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=288515-1

Type 1 & Type 2 diabetes should never become the politicians' wipping boy for obesity. Jonas would make an excellent Democratic officeholder! :toast:

Diabetics should stick together..especially on health care reform.