The Mediterranean diet combined with the practice of physical exercise would be the ideal combination for healthy weight loss, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal Circulation. This solution would reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes related to overweight.
Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, Harvard University in the United States and the University of Leipzig in Germany have used MRI imaging technology for the first time to chart the various organ changes and how fat storage reservoirs changed over 18 months from a mediterranean dietor low-carb or low-fat, with and without moderate exercise.
To map these deposits, they collected a slew of full-body MRI data over 18 months, with 300 data points. The 278 participants were randomized to a hypocaloric low-fat diet or to the Mediterranean diet + 28g of nuts per day with or without moderate physical exercise at least three times a week.
Moderate weight loss but better health
The results of the study showed that to reduce fat deposits in the liver (-29%), abdomen (-22%), and heart (-11%) it would be necessary to practice exercises moderate and follow the Mediterranean diet, despite moderate weight loss. This combination does not reduce neck and kidney fat.
“We learned in this trial that moderate but persistent weight loss can have dramatic beneficial effects on fat deposition linked to diabetes and cardiovascular illnesses“, explains Professor Shai, author of the study. “A Mediterranean diet, high in unsaturated fats and low in carbohydrates, was a more effective strategy than a hypocaloric low-fat diet in dramatically decreasing the storage sites of morbid fats”.
Improving nutritional quality and physical activity can improve cardiometabolic risk markers through changes in fat deposition that are not reflected by weight loss alone.
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