The Use of the Mediterranean Diet - Essay Example

?Management of Obesity through Mediterranean Diet Obesity is one of the health concerns of the population around the world due to the dangerous effects it can bring about to the health of a person. Due to its increasing prevalence, different solutions and interventions are being established to fight obesity. The paper is aimed to explore and to analyze Mediterranean diet, one of the interventions perceived to manage obesity. Background Information There are important information related to the study of the use of Mediterranean diet in the management of obesity namely the definition of obesity and the components of the diet itself. Obesity is a health condition related to different forms of metabolic abnormalities that can be expressed during childhood and adolescence such as dyslipidemia, hypertension, insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance which can lead to cardiovascular disease during adulthood. Records show that the trend of obesity is on the rise in Europe specifically in the Mediterranean region. For example, in Italy, 4 million of the 60 million people were confirmed obese. The said condition is evident in the younger generations especially the children of ages 7 to 11. Data showed this trend across the European continent. Percentage of obese or overweight children in Italy is 36%, 35% in Malta, 34% in Spain, 31% in Greece, 21% in United Kingdom,18% in Sweden and 15% in Denmark (Simopoulos and Visioli, 2007, p.97). This had raised questions regarding the food in the said region. The following years then, the Mediterranean region had been known trough the diet that they are consuming which had known to help resolve the problems of obesity and overweight. The Mediterranean diet refers to the type of diet and food composition in certain regions adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea which is typically made up of plant foods, fruits, dairy products, fish and poultry. Common plant foods include fruits, vegetables, potatoes, beans, nuts, and seeds. Olive oil is the main fat source and fruits are considered as dessert. Dairy products such as cheese and yogurt as well as eggs and poultry are consumed moderately. Red meats are only consumed in low amounts. Based on the composition, the diet is known to have low percentage of saturated fat and moderate to high total fat which contribute to the probable health benefits of consuming the said diet (Nonas and Foster, 2009, p.51). Due to the increasing popularity of the Mediterranean diet, there are numerous studies that analyzed and explored the health benefits and the contributions of the diet in the management of obesity and other related health conditions. Analysis of the Mediterranean Diet Even in the 1950s there were studies that explored the relationship of diet to the risk of health conditions such as cardiovascular disease. In the study to determine the effects of adherence to the Mediterranean diet in Europe and North America, results showed a decrease in mortality in the population. Specifically, one study showed that adherence to the diet resulted to 20% decrease in the risk for mortality (Nonas and Foster, 2009, p.53). There are different limitations in the said study such as the parameters used. Thus, in the succeeding researches body mass index (BMI) became the main basis of the measurement of the efficacy of the adherence to the Mediterranean diet. One of the studies was aimed to investigate the association between adherences to Mediterranean diet to the fasting indices of glucose homestasis in the Greek population. This was undertaken though random sampling of 1514 men and 1528 women of ages 18 to 89 in 2001 to 2002 from Attica, Greece. Based on the study’s conclusion, there is inverse relationship between adherence to the diet and the indices of glucose homestasis (Panagiotakos et al., 2007). Although the study is not focused on obesity alone, the glucose homestasis is related to the different contributing factors to obesity. The main limitation of the study is the inclusion of numerous parameters which although considered important to the conditions of the study can be perceived confusing. In the 2009 study by Rallidis and colleagues, the main focus is abdominal obesity (AO) which can lead to the increased risk of acquiring cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes and the role of Mediterranean diet in cardioprotection. The main parameter in focus is the endothelial function in individuals with AO. A population of 90 subjects with AO but without cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes was given a Mediterranean diet for 2 months and the other group’s diet was changed to one with higher monounsaturated fatty acids, different intakes of dietary fiber, vitamin C, and alcohol. Results showed that adherence to a the diet through close dietetic supervision can lead to the improvement of endothelial function in subjects with abdominal obesity (Rallidis et al., 2009). The study is an evidence of the positive effect of the Mediterranean diet to obese people. It is then important to continue the said line of research to be able to achieve a holistic view of the effects of the diet to obesity. The main limitation of the study is the low number of subjects used for the empirical data gathering. Another important perspective in the study of the effects of the Mediterranean diet had been achieved by the empirical research undertaken by Shai et al. in 2008 which is the comparative study of the effects of three dietary interventions to weight loss which can be considered beneficial to obese people. The three interventions include low-carbohydrate diet, the Mediterranean diet and the low-fat diet. The study was undertaken through a longitudinal analysis of 322 moderately obese subjects randomly chosen and assigned to the 3 different diets. Rate of adherence to the diet was 95.4% and 84.6% on the first and second years of the 2-year study respectively. Promising results had been observed for the Mediterranean and the low-carbohydrate diets as alternatives for the low-fat diet. The Mediterranean diet in particular is highly effective on glycolic control (Shai et al., 2008). The said result can be considered as a important way to set perspective on the effects of the Mediterranean diet. In proper adherence and setting up of the component by a dietitian, it can significantly improve the conditions of obese people. Conclusion Based on the research undertaken, the positive effects of the Mediterranean diet as an intervention for obesity management outweighs the negative effects which can be inefficacy. There are limitations in the empirical studies, mainly the lack of strict focus on obesity itself, but the related condition explored in the studies included can be considered definitive of the positive effects of the diet to obesity. One study, specifically Shai et al. distinctly presented the effect of Mediterranean diet in the decrease of weight, which can be considered as one of the problematic symptoms of obesity. By resolving even the said factor, great improvement leading to cure can be achieved. References Nonas, C. and Foster, G.D. (2009). Managing Obesity: A Clinical Guide. American Dietetic Association. Panagiotakos, D.B., Tzima, N., Pitsavos, C., Chrysohoou, C., Zampelas, A., Toussoulis, D. and Stefanadis, C. (2007). The Association between Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Fasting Indices of Glucose Homoeostasis: The ATTICA Study. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 26 (1): 32-38. Rallidis, L.S., Lekakis, J., Kolomvotsou, A., Zampelas, A., Vamvakou, G., Efstathiou, S., Dimitriadis, G., Raptis, S.A. and Kremastinos, D.T. (2009). Close Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Improves Endothelial Function in Subjects with Abdominal Obesity. Am J Clin Nutr, 90: 263-8. Shai, I., Schwarzfuchs, D., Henkin, Y., Shahar, D.R., Witkow, S., Greenberg, I., Golan, R., Fraser, D., Bolotin, A., Vardi, H., Tangi-Rosental, O., Zuk-ramot, R., Sarusi, B., Brickner, D., Schwatz, Z., Sheiner, E., Marko, R., Katorza, e., Thiery, J., Fiedler, G.M., Bluher, M., Stumvoll, M., Stamfer, M.J. (2008). Weight Loss with a Los-Carbohydrate, Mediterranean, or Low-Fat Diet. The New England Journal of Medicine, 359 (3): 229-41. Simopoulos, A.P. and Visioli, F. (2007). More on Mediterranean Diets. Karger Pulishers. Read More