The cohort study by Martinez-Gonzalez et al was reviewed at our
public health department’s journal club[1]. This raised some issues about
the applicability of the findings to a UK population.
The authors assert that the Mediterranean diet is highly palatable,
and people are likely to comply with it. In the UK, this diet is expensive
and not easily accessible. The authors do acknowledge that the Indian
diabetes prevention programme reduced the incidence of diabetes using a
plant based diet[2]. So a diabetes- and CHD-preventing diet does not
necessarily have to be a Mediterranean diet. In multicultural societies
such as the UK, it may be more successful to advise people how they can
adjust they’re chosen diet to make it healthier rather than asking them to
radically change their eating habits. I assume that the Spanish
participants in Martinez-Gonzalez’s study were brought up on a
Mediterranean diet. It would be interesting to see how quickly the
benefits of the diet emerged if applied to a UK population eating a
traditional Western diet.
The results of this study do support a dose-response benefit of
eating a healthy diet, including increasing benefits from fruit and
vegetables over and above the 5-a-day we are advised to eat.
References
1. Martinez-Gonzalez MA et al. Adherence to Mediterrenean diet and risk of
developing diabetes: prospective cohort study. BMJ,
doi:10.1136/bmj.39561.501007.BE (published 29 May 2008)
2. Ramachandran A, Snehalatha C, Mary S, Mukesh B, Bhaskar AD, Vijay V.
The Indian diabetes prevention programme shows that lifestyle modification
and metformin prevent type 2 diabetes in Asian Indian subjects with
impaired glucose tolerance (IDPP-1). Diabetologia 2006;49:289-97.
Rapid Response:
Does a healthy diet have a be Mediterranean?
The cohort study by Martinez-Gonzalez et al was reviewed at our public health department’s journal club[1]. This raised some issues about the applicability of the findings to a UK population.
The authors assert that the Mediterranean diet is highly palatable, and people are likely to comply with it. In the UK, this diet is expensive and not easily accessible. The authors do acknowledge that the Indian diabetes prevention programme reduced the incidence of diabetes using a plant based diet[2]. So a diabetes- and CHD-preventing diet does not necessarily have to be a Mediterranean diet. In multicultural societies such as the UK, it may be more successful to advise people how they can adjust they’re chosen diet to make it healthier rather than asking them to radically change their eating habits. I assume that the Spanish participants in Martinez-Gonzalez’s study were brought up on a Mediterranean diet. It would be interesting to see how quickly the benefits of the diet emerged if applied to a UK population eating a traditional Western diet.
The results of this study do support a dose-response benefit of eating a healthy diet, including increasing benefits from fruit and vegetables over and above the 5-a-day we are advised to eat.
References
1. Martinez-Gonzalez MA et al. Adherence to Mediterrenean diet and risk of developing diabetes: prospective cohort study. BMJ, doi:10.1136/bmj.39561.501007.BE (published 29 May 2008)
2. Ramachandran A, Snehalatha C, Mary S, Mukesh B, Bhaskar AD, Vijay V. The Indian diabetes prevention programme shows that lifestyle modification and metformin prevent type 2 diabetes in Asian Indian subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IDPP-1). Diabetologia 2006;49:289-97.
Competing interests: None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests