Better Than The Mediterranean?

We’ve written before about the Mediterranean diet, here:

The Mediterranean Diet: What Is It Good For? ← What isn’t it good for?

👆 the above article also delineates what does and doesn’t go in a Mediterranean diet—hint, it’s not just any food from the Mediterranean region!

The Mediterranean diet’s strengths come from various factors including its good plant:animal ratio (leaning heavily on the plants), colorful fruit and veg minimally processed, and the fact that olive oil is the main source of fat:

All About Olive Oil ← pretty much one of the healthiest fats we can consume, if not healthiest all-rounder fat.

To expand on what we said about the plant:animal ratio: the Mediterranean diet is mostly plant-based with very little meat and some fermented dairy, but little is not “none”, so how much difference does getting rid of the last animal products make?

Groundbreaking research

A team of researchers led by Dr. Hana Kahleova, MD, PhD, director of clinical research at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, did a randomized controlled trial investigating the effects of vegan diet vs Mediterranean diet on weight loss and dietary acid load, the latter being measured in terms of both potential renal acid load (PRAL) and net endogenous acid production (NEAP), specifically because dietary acid load is a driver of inflammation that disrupts normal metabolic processes and thus increases body fat storage.

The format of this study was a randomized cross-over trial; the participants (n=62) were randomly assigned to either a Mediterranean or vegan diet for 16 weeks, then switched after a 4-week intermediary period of eating according to their normal habits (in sciencese: a “washout” period, so that we know the second study period is not still being affected by changes from the first study period), so that each participant then did the other diet that they didn’t do the first time.

What they found:

• About acid load: participants on the vegan diet had a significant drop in dietary acid load (measured by PRAL and NEAP), while there was no change on the Mediterranean diet. Specifically, on the vegan diet, PRAL dropped by about 26 points, and NEAP dropped by about 27 points—both highly statistically significant. And, as we say, zero change on the Med.
• About weight: the more someone’s acid load decreased, the more weight they lost—this pattern was seen in both the first and second 16-week phases. Participants lost an average of 6kg (a little over 13 lbs) on the vegan diet, with no weight change on the Mediterranean diet.

Why did this happen? Dr. Kahleova explains:

❝Eating acid-producing foods like meat, eggs, and dairy can increase the dietary acid load, or the amount of acids consumed, causing inflammation linked to weight gain.

But replacing animal products with plant-based foods like leafy greens, berries, and legumes can help promote weight loss and create a healthy gut microbiome.❞

You can read the paper in full, here: Dietary acid load on the Mediterranean and a vegan diet: a secondary analysis of a randomized, cross-over trial

Want to learn more?

If you’re curious about reducing the amount of meat you consume, check out:

The Whys and Hows of Cutting Meats Out Of Your Diet

Enjoy!