Mediterranean "Medicine"

Proper nutrition is vital in managing type 2 diabetes, and now researchers at Italy's Second University of Naples have found that a Mediterranean-style diet may be the best approach to keeping blood sugar under control. They followed 215 overweight adults newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes for four years, half of whom ate a Mediterranean diet that had at least 30% of daily calories coming from fat, mainly olive oil. The remainder of the study subjects ate an American Heart Association'approved low-fat diet. Although weight loss between the two groups was similar, only 44% of the adults eating the Mediterranean diet required oral medications to lower their blood sugar compared to 70% of those on the low-fat eating plan. In addition, people who followed the Mediterranean diet also posted greater drops in risk factors for cardiovascular disease than those on the low-fat plan.