Years ago, the predominant diet consumed by residents of the Mediterranean was found to provide some wonderful heart benefits. Since then, researchers have studied the Mediterranean Diet further and discovered some additional health benefits that may have been initially overlooked!

Do you know about Metabolic Syndrome?

Affecting about 25 percent of adults across the world, metabolic syndrome is a collective term for a group of symptoms that have been linked to increasing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and premature death. These symptoms include:

• High blood sugar
• High blood pressure
• High triglycerides
• Low HDL (good) cholesterol
• Large waist circumference (also known as central obesity)

You should know that possessing just three of the above symptoms is sufficient to receive a metabolic syndrome diagnosis.

The Mediterranean Diet: A solution to Metabolic Syndrome?

Since the Mediterranean Diet is so effective in reducing the risk of heart disease, type II diabetes, and age-related cognition loss, researchers decided to study the effects of the diet on metabolic syndrome. To conduct the study, researchers tested three groups of participants between the ages of 55 and 80 for 4.8 years:

• Group 1 followed a low-fat diet
• Group 2 followed a Mediterranean Diet with extra olive oil
• Group 3 followed a Mediterranean Diet with extra nuts

Overall, those who followed either of the Mediterranean Diets did not develop new cases of metabolic syndrome. And those participants who already had metabolic syndrome and followed either of the Mediterranean Diets experienced a decline in their symptoms by 28.2 percent! Specifically, Group 2 saw decreases in blood sugar and central obesity while Group 3 saw decreases mainly in central obesity.

Is the Mediterranean Diet right for you?

These new findings suggest that consuming a Mediterranean Diet can not only reduce your risk of heart disease, but also other symptoms that can lead to serious medical conditions like diabetes, obesity, or stroke. A 2010 study even found that a Mediterranean Diet could lower the risk of developing depression. So, you should definitely ‘Ask a Naturopath’ if the Mediterranean Diet is right for you.