Summary: A modified version of the Mediterranean diet called the green Mediterranean diet, which consists of enriched dietary polyphenols such as green tea, walnuts, and duckweed, and less red meat, reduced more visceral fat than either the traditional Mediterranean diet or a traditional diet plan.
Font: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
The Green Mediterranean Diet (MED) significantly reduces visceral adipose tissue, a type of fat around internal organs that is far more dangerous than extra “tiredness” around the waist.
The green Mediterranean diet was pitted against the Mediterranean diet and a healthy diet in a large-scale intervention clinical trial: DIRECT PLUS. A subsequent analysis found that the green Med diet reduced visceral fat by 14%, the Med diet by 7%, and the healthy diet by 4.5%.
The study was published in BMC Medicine.
Reducing visceral fat is considered the true goal of weight loss, as it is a more important indicator than a person’s weight or waist circumference. Visceral fat accumulates over time between the organs and produces hormones and poisons linked to heart disease, diabetes, dementia and premature death.
The research was led by Prof. Iris Shai from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, Adjunct Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, and Honorary Professor at the University of Leipzig, Germany, along with her PhD student, Dr. Hila Zelicha, and Italian, German colleagues and Americans.
The DIRECT-PLUS trial research team was the first to introduce the concept of a green Mediterranean diet. This modified MED diet is more enriched with dietary polyphenols and has less red/processed meat than the traditional healthy MED diet. In addition to a daily intake of walnuts (28 grams), the participants consumed 3-4 cups of green tea per day and 100 grams (frozen cubes) of green duckweed smoothie per day. Duckweed from the aquatic green plant is high in bioavailable protein, iron, vitamin B12, vitamins, minerals and polyphenols and substituted meat intake.
The team has shown in previous studies that the MED green diet has a variety of health effects ranging from the microbiome to age-related degenerative diseases.
Two hundred ninety-four participants participated in the 18-month trial.
“A healthy lifestyle is a solid foundation for any weight loss program. We learned from the results of our experiment that the quality of food is no less important than the amount of calories consumed and the current goal is to understand the mechanisms of various nutrients, for example, positive ones like polyphenols and negative ones like empty carbohydrates. and processed red meat, on the rate of differentiation of fat cells and their aggregation in the viscera,” says Prof. Shai.
“A 14% reduction in visceral fat is a spectacular achievement for making simple changes to your diet and lifestyle. Weight loss is an important goal only if it is accompanied by impressive results in reducing adipose tissue,” says Dr. Hila Zelicha.
Money: This work was supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – Project number 209933838- SFB 1052; the Rosetrees Trust (Grant A2623); Israel Ministry of Health grant 87472511; Israel Ministry of Science and Technology Grant 3-13604; and the California Nut Commission.
None of the funders were involved in any stage of the study design, conduct, or analysis and did not have access to the study results prior to publication.
About this diet and fat reduction research news
Author: Ehud Zion Waldoks
Font: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Contact: Ehud Zion Waldoks – Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Image: The image is in the public domain.
original research: Open access.
“The effect of the high-polyphenol Mediterranean diet on visceral adiposity: the DIRECT PLUS randomized controlled trial” by Hila Zelicha et al. BMC Medicine
See also
Summary
The effect of the high-polyphenol Mediterranean diet on visceral adiposity: the DIRECT PLUS randomized controlled trial
Background
The Mediterranean diet (MED) is a rich source of polyphenols, which benefit adiposity through various mechanisms. We explored the effect of the green-MED diet, twice fortified in dietary polyphenols and lower in red/processed meat, on visceral adipose tissue (VAT).
methods
In the 18-month Dietary Intervention Randomized Controlled Trial PoLyphenols Unprocessed (DIRECT-PLUS) weight loss trial, 294 participants were randomly assigned to (A) healthy dietary guidelines (HDG), (B) MED, or (C) green diets. -MED, all combined with physical activity. Both isocaloric MED groups consumed 28 g/day of nuts (+ 440 mg/day of polyphenols). The green-MED group also consumed green tea (3-4 cups/day) and Wolffia globosa (duckweed strain) green vegetable smoothie (100 g frozen cubes/day) (+ 800 mg/day of polyphenols) and reduced consumption of red meat. We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to quantify abdominal adipose tissues.
Results
Participants (age = 51 years; 88% men; body mass index = 31.2 kg/mtwo; 29% VAT) had an 89.8% retention rate and 79.3% completed eligible MRIs. While both MED diets achieved similar moderate loss in weight (MED: −2.7%, green-MED: −3.9%) and waist circumference (MED: −4.7%, green-MED: − 5.7%), people on the green-MED diet doubled the loss of VAT (HDG: −4.2%, MED: −6.0%, green-MED: −14.1%; p < 0.05, regardless of age, gender, waist circumference, or weight loss). Increased dietary intake of green tea, nuts and Wolffia globosa; lower consumption of red meat; higher total plasma polyphenols (mainly hippuric acid), and elevated urine urolithin A polyphenols were significantly related to a higher loss of VAT (p < 0.05, multivariate models).
conclusions
A green MED diet, enriched with plant-based polyphenols and low in red/processed meat, may be a potent intervention to promote the regression of visceral adiposity.
test log
ClinicalTrials.govNCT03020186
