ISLAMABAD: Giving a proper diet and exercise a thought could be the answer to the prevention of type 2 diabetes and other related chronic diseases. A new dietary pattern such as the Mediterranean diet and some moderate physical activity in one’s daily routine may significantly reduce the chance of having these health problems.
A very recent research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine has put sticking to a Mediterranean diet plus being physically active just about the most significant steps to take for diabetes prevention. The Mediterranean diet woos consumers with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, fish, and olive oil as the main products. Also, a very small amount of red meat is permitted. Such eating is typical in these four countries: Spain, Greece, Italy, and France.
It was a longitudinal study; the researchers have been following the health condition of 4746 overweight people aged 55-75, without diabetes and cardiovascular diseases at the baseline, for quite a long time. To precisely gauge the impact of the lifestyle change, they divided the participants. One group was provided with instructions and encouragement in following the Mediterranean diet plus engagement in everyday physical activities such as regular walking, as well as strength and balance exercises. The second group consisted of those who were only given dietary recommendations but got no further assistance.
After six years, outcomes indicated that only 9.5% of people in the lifestyle intervention group were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes while in the control group the figure stood at 12%. As the authors of the paper state, these changes in lifestyle lowered the probability of occurrence of the disease by nearly one-third and were associated with good health conditions including ideal body weight management practice.
Long-term effects of a Mediterranean diet have also been investigated in a Number of studies including those published in the Journal of Nutrition in 2024. These studies reveal that the adoption of such a diet may prevent cardiometabolic diseases resulting in such conditions as heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes. The data the conclusions are based on come from 22,000+ participants who have been following this diet over 10-15-year period, thus greatly improving their metabolic health and reducing their risk of cardiometabolic diseases.
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Experts agree that it is possible to avert chronic diseases if we start making tiny and constant changes to our diet and physical activity. They further maintain that lifestyle choices have an enormous influence on the possibility of staying healthy in the long run.
