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Your opinion on the Mediterranean Diet

Is the Mediterranean Diet effective in managing Type 2 Diabetes?

  • Yes, it can reverse Diabetes

    Votes: 3 21.4%

  • Yes, it can manage Type 2 Diabetes

    Votes: 6 42.9%

  • Yes, when medication is also taken

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • No

    Votes: 5 35.7%
  • Total voters
    14
A

april29

Member
Messages
5
Hi all,
I'm an A level student currently writing up a dissertation for an Extended Project Qualification which investigates the role of diet in management of Type 2 Diabetes. It would be really useful to gather some primary research to include in my project so I was wondering if anyone could spare a moment of your time to offer your personal opinion/experience of a Mediterranean Diet in the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes.

To clarify, I class the Mediterranean Diet to incorporate the healthy eating habits of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, making up a low-carb diet which is largely based on olive oil (healthy fats), fruits and vegetables (high in fibre), nuts, beans, cereal grains and fish.

It would be extremely valuable to read your personal views, if possible answering any of the following questions:
- How effective do you believe the Mediterranean Diet is in treating Type 2 Diabetes and why?
- What are (if any) advantages/positive effects of the Mediterranean Diet?
- What are (if any) the disadvantages/side effects of the Mediterranean Diet?
- How easy/difficult is it to make a lifestyle change to the Mediterranean Diet?
- Can the Mediterranean Diet be used alone to treat Type 2 Diabetes or alongside medication?

- Any other personal experience/opinion or relevant information on the Mediterranean Diet would be much appreciated!

All responses will remain anonymous, unless you specifically state your forum user name may be used in my dissertation. Do not post any personal details on this thread..

Thanks so much for your time,
April
 
Last edited:
Could you give a bit more detail about what you class the Mediterranean Diet to be?

It tends to be a 'catch all' phrase, but I just did a google for Mediterranean Diet Pyramids, and BOTH of these pics are labelled as being The Mediterranean Diet, yet they are very different.
Am just asking for clarity, to help your research, so that you get answers based on a common view.

http://www.underwateraudio.com/blog/the-diet-guide-mediterranean-diet/



http://choiceslifestyle.com/why-a-mediterranean-diet/
 
It all depends on how you are defining the Mediterranean Diet. If you mean a diet that contains pasta, bread, pizza, rice, couscous, it won't do much to improve T2 diabetes.
If what you (and I think many others) are getting at is, Eating Real Food, bought fresh, home cooked, using olive oil rather than seed oils, then this could be less bad than what you see in many trollies being pushed round the supermarket. A Mediterranean style diet , including whole grains and pasta, didn't stop my husband from getting T2, but it might be a better diet than endless ready meals, fast food and sugary things.
Sally
 
Thank you both so much for your responses, they are extremely useful! Apologies about the uncertainty, I should have been clearer in my definition. To clarify, I class the Mediterranean Diet to incorporate the healthy eating habits of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, making up a low-carb diet which is largely based on vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, cereal grains, olive oil and fish.


 
I think of it as lamb, feta cheese, olives, tomato, cucumber and olive oil and oregano. ( I want to go to Greece)

All kidding aside.
I think of it as healthy fats like olive oil, olives and avocados, some nuts and seeds. Small amounts of protein and lots being fish. Most of it being made up of fresh veggies and small amounts of fruit. Whole fresh foods
Not a lot of dairy and I'll pass on all the grains as they are not friendly in any quantity for me.
I'm probably way off but this is my vision.
 

Yes, that's exactly the diet I mean!
 
The problem with the "Mediterranean Diet" is that it is each person's own dream, frequently based on delightful holidays in the sun. I share @Kristin251 's delight in Greek cuisine, but would tend to specify Cretan rather than the broader Greek, having being almost drowned by carbs (more chips with your pasta, madam?) in Kefallonia.
If you travel around the Med, you will find all sorts of diet. There is no, one, clear set of nutrients that can be used for a scientific investigation.
I suspect @april29 , what you actually mean is Fresh, local produce, home cooked, using traditional fats and oils, fruit and veg in season and sugary things just as a treat?
Sally
 
It wouldn't do for me at all. Grains and fruit are out for me, and I love my meat and dairy.
 
april29 said:
making up a low-carb diet which is largely based on vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, cereal grains, olive oil and fish.
Click to expand...
I would't consider a diet containing fruit (apart from a few berries) beans, or cereal grains to be either low carb or "healthy" so you see we can't even agree on what your diet is called. Have you read the recently published "Pioppi Diet" book by Dr Aseem Malhotra and Donal O'Neill? I think they are trying to redefine the elusive "Mediterranean Diet:" by studying what people living there really eat rather than our idealised preconception.
 
If it contains cereal grains and beans then I'll stick with a plain ordinary very low carb diet, which I know actually works well for me, and which contains many of the foods included in the "Mediterranean" diet anyway. My body doesn't handle carbs well

Robbity
 
Hard to form a definitive answer to all the questions. However the basic 'mediterranean diet' is devoid of processed foods and relies to a large extent on fresh fish, meat, a wide variety of veg and herbs, cheeses, olives and olive oil and limited grains. I do try to adopt one and I've found that it helps keep my blood glucose levels lower that than the bog standard NHS/NICE diet. I do have one caveat though and that is that the 'mediterranean diet' diet does incorporate seasonal fruits and some of these (grapes for example) are quite high in sugars/carbs and need to be consumed in moderation. We spend a lot of time in Greece and Greeks enjoy sweet things and it's very hard when Greeks Bear Gifts of oranges in syrup !!
Disadvantages - Nil
Easy to adopt - Fairly, but depends on what you can grow yourself and local supermarket. As far as taste goes I like it.
Can it reverse D - Maybe, but other factors are involved. However it can improve BG levels and reduce complications.
Alone or With Meds - It all depends on the individual. D isn't a one size fits all condition.
Best of luck with your dissertaton @april29 !
 
I think most of our bodies are able to cope with putting fat on with seasonal fruits and then using it up over winter, but these days we eat fruits all year and never use up the fat.

The problem I have with the 'mediterranean diet' is that when I have gone on holiday to both the Greek and the Turkish med, every meal comes with lots of bread, rice, corrus and chips! Therefore the name 'mediterranean diet' is very likely to mislead someone who has not looked at the details.
 
There is definitely a lot of studies which support the use of a Mediterranean diet in treating diabetes and generally following it more closely increase frequency. If you go into something like google scholar, you'll see lots of studies showing following a Mediterranean-like diet more closely with reduced frequency of diabetes etc.

As others have mentioned, the main problem has been with defining exactly what's included in that sort of diet, particularly because the diets in those sorts of places has changed so much recently. Generally, we're talking lots of fruits, veg, whole grains, legumes, fish and olive oil, some dairy and poultry and a little bit of red meat. All unprocessed.
 
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