The Green Mediterranean diet, also known as the Green Med diet, has demonstrated a significant ability to reduce visceral adipose tissue, a type of fat that poses a greater health risk than the superficial fat around the waist. This diet was compared to the traditional Mediterranean and generally healthy diets in a comprehensive clinical trial called DIRECT PLUS. The results of this trial, published in BMC Medicine, showed that the Green Med diet led to a 14% reduction in visceral fat, compared to a 7% reduction with the Mediterranean diet, and a 4.5% decrease with the healthy diet. This highlights the effectiveness of the Green Med diet in reducing visceral fat, making it a promising option for weight loss and improved health.
The focus on reducing visceral fat is not just about weight loss, but about addressing a significant health concern. Visceral fat, which accumulates around organs over time, releases hormones and toxins that are linked to serious health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and even premature death. This underscores the importance of targeting visceral fat in weight loss efforts, as it can have a profound impact on overall health.
The study was spearheaded by Professor Iris Shai from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. She also holds positions as an adjunct professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and an honorary professor at the University of Leipzig, Germany. Doctoral student Dr. Hila Zelicha and collaborators from Italy, Germany, and the United States worked alongside her.
The research team behind the DIRECT-PLUS trial introduced a unique variant of the Mediterranean diet, known as the Green Mediterranean diet. This diet is enriched with dietary polyphenols and features a reduced intake of red and processed meat. Participants were instructed to include specific foods in their daily diet, such as 28 grams of walnuts, 3-4 cups of green tea, and 100 grams of a duckweed green shake (in the form of frozen cubes). Duckweed, a nutrient-rich aquatic plant, was highlighted in the diet for its high content of bioavailable protein, iron, B12, vitamins, minerals, and polyphenols, making it a healthy and sustainable meat substitute.
Previous studies conducted by the team have demonstrated the Green Med diet’s broad spectrum of beneficial effects, from influencing the microbiome to combating age-related degenerative diseases. This 18-month trial involved 294 participants.
Professor Shai emphasized the importance of a healthy lifestyle as the foundation of any weight loss program, noting that the experiment’s outcomes underscore the significance of food quality alongside calorie count. The current objective is to decipher the impact of various nutrients, such as beneficial ones like polyphenols and harmful ones like empty carbohydrates and processed red meat, on the rate of fat cell differentiation and their accumulation in the viscera.
Dr Hila Zelicha remarked on the dramatic achievement of a 14% reduction in visceral fat through simple dietary and lifestyle alterations, highlighting that the actual value of weight loss is realized when it leads to substantial decreases in adipose tissue.
More information: Hila Zelicha et al, The effect of high-polyphenol Mediterranean diet on visceral adiposity: the DIRECT PLUS randomized controlled trial, BMC Medicine. DOI: 10.1186/s12916-022-02525-8
Journal information: BMC Medicine Provided by Ben Gurion University of the Negev
