A Mediterranean-style diet, but with fewer calories, more moderate exercise, and professional weight loss support, reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 31%. This is the main finding of PREDIMED-Plus, a large Spanish multicenter clinical trial involving the University of Navarra in collaboration with more than 200 researchers from 22 other Spanish universities, hospitals, and research centers, and conducted in more than 100 primary care centers within the Spanish National Health System.
This is the largest European study on diet, initiated in 2013 by the University of Navarra with an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) of more than 2 million euros. Subsequently, between 2014 and 2016, the rest of the institutions joined the study, reaching a total funding of more than 15 million euros, mainly provided by the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) and the Center for Biomedical Research Network (CIBER) with its Pathophysiology of Obesity and Nutrition ( CIBEROBN ), Epidemiology and Public Health ( CIBERESP ), and Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases ( CIBERDEM ) areas.
The study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine followed 4,746 people aged between 55 and 75 with overweight or obesity and metabolic syndrome, who did not suffer from cardiovascular disease or diabetes, for six years. To assess whether an optimized version of the Mediterranean diet could support the prevention of type 2 diabetes, researchers compared two groups: One group followed a calorie-restricted diet (about 600 kcal less per day), engaged in a moderate exercise plan (brisk walking, strength and balance training), and received medical advice; the other group followed a traditional Mediterranean diet, without calorie restriction or exercise recommendations.
The results show that, in addition to reducing the risk of diabetes, the intervention group lost an average of 3.3 kg and reduced their waist circumference by 3.6 cm, compared to only 0.6 kg and 0.3 cm in the control group. Specifically, this meant that approximately three out of every 100 participants were protected from developing type 2 diabetes – a significant public health benefit.
