Heena Sharma Blog

High-quality diet, defined by low intake of animal foods such as red meat, and high intake of plant foods such as vegetables, fruits and whole grains, coupled with a reduced intake of sweetened beverages, could be associated with reduced risk of diabetes, a recent study suggests. Diet is an important risk factor for type 2 diabetes . Studying the impact of individual food items, however, does not account for the synergistic effects of diverse foods consumed together. Hence, scientists have turned increasing attention to studying the overall dietary patterns in order to capture the combined effect of a variety of food groups. Finding of the study were published in the Journal of American Journal of Epidemiology Five predetermined dietary patterns originating in Western populations, i.e. the alternative Mediterranean diet (aMED, an international adaptation of the eponymous diet), the Alternate Healthy Eating Index 2010 (AHEI-2010), the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension...

According to a recent study, pregnant women with higher intake of the Mediterranean diet have 32 per cent lower risk of having children with an accelerated growth pattern, as compared to offspring of women that did not follow such diet. The Mediterranean diet is characterised by a high content of fruits, vegetables, olive oil, legumes and nuts. This healthy diet pattern has earlier been associated with lower obesity and cardiometabolic risk in adults. This study, conducted at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, aimed at evaluating the association between adherence to a Mediterranean diet during pregnancy and growth patterns and cardiometabolic risk in early infancy. The findings of the study are published in the Journal of Pediatrics. It was performed with data of over 2,700 pregnant women, who filled in a questionnaire on dietary intake in the first and third trimester of pregnancy. In addition, the diet, weight and height of their offspring were followed-u...

Middle-aged women who follow a Mediterranean-style diet -- rich in fruits, vegetables, grains, potatoes, olive oil, seeds, fish, low saturated fat, dairy products and red meat -- may have a reduced risk of stroke, say researchers. The study shows that the diet may be especially protective in women over the age of 40, regardless of menopausal status or hormone replacement therapy . The diet reduced the onset of stroke by 17 per cent in all adults, but women saw greater reduction of 22 per cent, whereas the benefit was seen only in 6 per cent men. "It is unclear why we found differences between women and men, but it could be that components of the diet may influence men differently than women," said lead researcher Ailsa Welch, Professor at the UK's University of East Anglia. Read Complete Article