These Spanish investigators compared the 1-year effect of 2 behavioral interventions to implement the Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) vs advice on a low-fat diet on Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) status. A total of 1224 participants were recruited from the PREDIMED (Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea) Study, a multicenter, 3-arm, randomized clinical trial. Participants were older subjects at high risk for cardiovascular disease. Interventions were quarterly education about the MedDiet plus provision of either 1 L/wk of virgin olive oil (MedDiet + VOO) or 30 g/d of mixed nuts (MedDiet + nuts), and advice on a low-fat diet (control diet). All diets were ad libitum, and there was no increase in physical activity for any of the interventions.
They found: "At baseline, 61.4% of participants met criteria for the MetS. One-year prevalence of MetS was reduced by 6.7%, 13.7%, and 2.0% in the MedDiet + VOO, MedDiet + nuts, and control diet groups, respectively. Incident rates of the MetS were not significantly different among groups (22.9%, 17.9%, and 23.4%, respectively). After adjustment for sex, age, baseline obesity status, and weight changes, the odds ratios for reversion of MetS were 1.3 for the MedDiet + VOO group and 1.7 for the MedDiet + nuts group compared with the control diet group."
The authors concluded: "A traditional MedDiet enriched with nuts could be a useful tool in the management of the MetS."
We can look forward to further results reporting outcomes that people care about. Meanwhile this is reason enough to consider recommending inclusion of nuts in the diet.
For the full abstract, click here.
Arch Intern Med 168(22):2449-2458, 8/22 December 2008 © 2008 to the American Medical Association
Effect of a Mediterranean Diet Supplemented With Nuts on Metabolic Syndrome Status - One-Year Results of the PREDIMED Randomized Trial. Jordi Salas-Salvadó, Joan Fernández-Ballart, Emilio Ros, et al for the PREDIMED Study Investigators. Correspondence to::
Category: T. Endocrine/Metabolic/Nutritional. Keywords: Mediterranean diet, olive oil, nuts, metabolic syndrome, randomized controlled trial, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Linda French, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 7 January 2009
