• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.333-343
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• 2019

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: To compare five indices of adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MD) among adults living in the Mediterranean region. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A total of 100 healthy Lebanese adults aged between 18 and 65 years. Face-to-face interviews to collect sociodemographic and medical information, to take anthropometric measurements, and to fill a validated, culturally adapted, food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). The score for each item was calculated following the recommendations for each corresponding index. The five MD indices were Mediterranean Diet Scale (MDScale), Mediterranean Food Pattern (MFP), MD Score (MDS), Short Mediterranean Diet Questionnaire (SMDQ), and the MedDiet score. RESULTS: Significant correlations were detected between items with P-values < 0.001. Minimal agreement was seen between MDScale and MedDiet score and maximal agreement between MDS and MedDiet score. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that MDS and MedDiet scores had significant correlations with fiber and olive oil intake, main components of the MD. MDScale showed a significant correlation with waist-to-hip ratio and with total energy intake but none of the five indices was correlated to body mass index (BMI). CONCLUSIONS: The indices that showed the highest correlation with variables related to the MD are the MDScale and the MedDiet score; therefore, they can be used to assess our future study populations. Based on the current results, more than half of the study population was non-adherent to the MD and adherence to this diet did not appear to protect against being overweight ($BMI{\geq}30$).

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.237-256
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to verify whether Mediterranean diet, which proved to have a significant effect on preventing dementia for people aged 65 or older, could be well modified to be a Korean-style Mediterranean diet. This study was performed as a randomized-controlled trial for 6 weeks. Functional physical changes, cognitive scores, depression scores and dietary changes were all assessed. The walking speed (P<0.001) and the cognitive scores were statistically improved in only the experimental group (P<0.001), and the depression scores were also significantly improved in only the experimental group (P<0.01). The dietary intake showed a 30% improvement for consuming more than 7 cups per day of vegetables and fruits. When the participants were contacted four months after the end of the study, 90% of them said that the Korean-style Mediterranean diet was feasible and 100% said the nutrition interventions helped them maintain the diet during their daily lives. The results suggest that although the Mediterranean diet can be difficult to apply, any limitations of this healthy diet can be overcome.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.762-779
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Mediterranean diet is an environmentally friendly and healthy diet model. The diet offers many vegetables, fruits, nuts, and olive oil to consumers. In addition, it provides moderate amounts of fish and chicken, smaller quantities of dairy products, red meat, and processed meat. The Mediterranean diet has a high anti-inflammatory and antioxidant content, and it causes many physiological changes that can provide a physical performance advantage. This study examined the effects of a 15-day menu, which was planned using foods with a low acid load within the Mediterranean diet rules, on the exercise performance, lactate elimination, anthropometric measurements, and body composition. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Fifteen professional male athletes between the ages of 13 and 18, who were engaged in ski running, were included in the experimental study. Dietary intervention was applied for 15 days. The athlete performances were evaluated by applying the vertical jump test, hand grip strength, 20 meters shuttle run test, and Borg fatigue scale. After the shuttle run test (every 3 min for 30 min), blood was drawn from the finger, and the lactate elimination time was calculated. Performance and lactate measurements, body analysis, and anthropometric measurements were taken before and after dietary intervention. RESULTS: The vertical jump height and hand grip strength increased after the intervention (P < 0.05). The test duration, total distance, the number of shuttles, and maximum oxygen consumption parameters of the shuttle run test increased (P < 0.05). After the intervention, the athletes' perceived fatigue scores decreased in several stages of the shuttle run test (P < 0.05). The lactate elimination time and athlete's body composition were similar in repeated measurements (P > 0.05). In the last measurements, the upper middle arm circumference decreased while the height of the athletes increased (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results show that the Mediterranean diet is a safe and feasible dietary approach for aerobic performance and strength increase.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.257-268
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• 2024

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the relationship between adherence to the Mediterranean diet among Korean baby boomers and their levels of psychosocial stress. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The study included 1,656 adults (889 men and 797 women) born between 1955 and 1963 who participated in the 2005-2006 survey of the community-based Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES). The Mediterranean-type diet score (MTDS) was calculated from the semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (SQFFQ) data. The psychosocial stress levels were calculated using the psychosocial well-being indexshort form (PWI-SF). Logistic regression analyses were performed to analyze the association between the MTDS (tertiles) and the prevalence of high psychosocial stress by gender. RESULTS: The ranges of the MTDS tertile groups were T1 (20-33 points), T2 (34-37 points), and T3 (38-39 points) for men, T1 (20-33 points), T2 (34-37 points), and T3 (38-48 points) for women. In both men and women, the consumption of whole grains, potatoes, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and fish increased with higher MTDS, while the consumption of red meat and dairy products decreased (P for trend < 0.05). As MTDS score increased the intake of energy, fiber, vitamins, and minerals (P for trend < 0.05). Men in the highest MTDS tertile had a 41% lower odds ratio (OR) of high psychosocial stress compared with those in the lowest tertile (OR, 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.38-0.91). Similarly, women in the highest tertile of the MTDS had a 39% lower OR of high psychosocial stress compared with those in the lowest tertile (OR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.40-0.95). CONCLUSION: Promoting adherence to the Mediterranean diet among baby boomers may have a positive impact on reducing their levels of psychosocial stress.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.165-173
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• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study addressed the question whether the composition of supposedly 'healthy' or 'unhealthy' dietary regimes has a calorie-independent short-term effect on biomarkers of metabolic stress and vascular risk in healthy individuals. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Healthy male volunteers (age $29.5{\pm}5.9years$, n = 39) were given a standardized baseline diet for two weeks before randomization into three groups of different dietary regimes: fast food, Mediterranean and German cooking style. Importantly, the amount of calories consumed per day was identical in all three groups. Blood samples were analyzed for biomarkers of cardiovascular risk and metabolic stress after two weeks of the baseline diet and after two weeks of the assigned dietary regime. RESULTS: No dietary intervention affected the metabolic or cardiovascular risk profile when compared in-between groups or compared to baseline. Subjects applied to the Mediterranean diet showed a statistically significant increase of uric acid compared to baseline and compared to the German diet group. Plasma concentrations of urea were significantly higher in both the fast food group and the Mediterranean group, when compared to baseline and compared to the German diet group. No significant differences were detected for the levels of vitamins, trace elements or metabolic stress markers (8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine, malondialdehyde and methylglyoxal, a potent glycating agent). Established parameters of vascular risk (e.g. LDL-cholesterol, lipoprotein(a), homocysteine) were not significantly changed in-between groups or compared to baseline during the intervention period. CONCLUSIONS: The calorie-controlled dietary intervention caused neither protective nor harmful short-term effects regarding established biomarkers of vascular or metabolic risk. When avoiding the noxious effects of overfeeding, healthy individuals can possess the metabolic capacity to compensate for a potentially disadvantageous composition of a certain diet.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.450-458
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the current published research related to improvement in cognitive function. A systematic search was performed in three bibliographic databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE) using "dementia", "memory", "food", "diet", and "nutrition" as keywords. Meal management intervention, including Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, Mediterranean (Med) diet, Diet Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet, and other studies, was also included in the analysis. Through extensive screening, 21 articles, out of 2101 papers retrieved, were used for the final systematic review. The methodological quality of the randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. These articles recommended vegetables, fruits, whole grains, olive oil, fish, berries, nuts, and beans. In conclusion, this study suggests the potential use of meal management to improve cognitive function.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.675-681
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• 2002

Among Italian buffalo farmers, it is widely held that administering diets with high energy and protein concentrations is an effective way to increase milk production. In order to assess the validity of this opinion, we verified milk yield and physico-chemical characteristics from buffaloes that, from the $5^{th}$ month of lactation, were fed two total mixed rations (TMRs) which, given the same intake, should have led to satisfaction of protein requirements though with a slight energy deficit (diet A) or excessive amounts of energy and protein (diet B). Estimate of the energy and protein value of the diets and that of the corresponding requirements was carried out both by using two software programs derived from the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (1992), and with the method set up by INRA researchers (1988). The results obtained show that the two diets administered did not result in significant changes to the quantity of milk produced. However, with Diet B the protein concentration in the milk was significantly (p<0.01) higher, although this was partly offset by the higher concentration (p<0.05) of non-protein nitrogen (NNP). The Group B buffaloes also showed significantly higher blood urea levels (p<0.01), with concentrations exceeding those considered physiological for lactating buffaloes. Finally, while administering Diet A the Body Condition Score (BCS) was close to 6.5 (Wagner et al., 1988), whereas in buffaloes which used Diet B it sometimes increased by over 0.5 points. As regards which of the two methods compared is more suitable for expressing dietary energy and protein value and corresponding requirements, we feel that due to the high variability in the Italian Mediterranean buffalo's milk production aptitude, it would be premature to express a judgement on methods which rest on a common scientific base and do not differ substantially.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2017

Objectives: By the end of the 2000s, the economic situation in many European countries started to deteriorate, generating financial uncertainty, social insecurity and worse health status. The aim of the present study was to investigate how the recent financial crisis has affected the lifestyle health determinants and behaviours of older adults living in the Mediterranean islands. Methods: From 2005 to 2015, a population-based, multi-stage convenience sampling method was used to voluntarily enrol 2749 older adults (50% men) from 20 Mediterranean islands and the rural area of the Mani peninsula. Lifestyle status was evaluated as the cumulative score of four components (range, 0 to 6), that is, smoking habits, diet quality (MedDietScore), depression status (Geriatric Depression Scale) and physical activity. Results: Older Mediterranean people enrolled in the study from 2009 onwards showed social isolation and increased smoking, were more prone to depressive symptoms, and adopted less healthy dietary habits, as compared to their counterparts participating earlier in the study (p<0.05), irrespective of age, gender, several clinical characteristics, or socioeconomic status of the participants (an almost 50% adjusted increase in the lifestyle score from before 2009 to after 2009, p<0.001). Conclusions: A shift towards less healthy behaviours was noticeable after the economic crisis had commenced. Public health interventions should focus on older adults, particularly of lower socioeconomic levels, in order to effectively reduce the burden of cardiometabolic disease at the population level.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Poultry Science Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.14-35
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• 2000

There have been growing interests in olive oil, which is attributed to the beneficial health effects of the Mediterranean diet. Numerous studies suggest that oleic acid, the major fatty acid in olive oil, may contribute to less incidence of coronary heart disease(CHD) in the Mediterranean area. Although the major effects of high monounsaturated fatty acid(MUFA) consumption on lowered plasma cholesterol are generally attributed to the consequential replacement of saturated fatty acid in diets, some studies have shown a modest cholesterol lowering effect of MUFA alone when it replaces dietary carbohydrate at an equal amount of energy. Furthermore, MUFA increases the level of the protective high-density lipoprotein cholesterol more than polyunsaturated fatty acid(PUFA) does when these two classes of fatty acids replace carbohydrates in the diet. It has been generally recommended that optimal dietary fat should be rich in MUFA, such as oleic acid, low in saturated fatty acids and provide adequate amounts of PUFA. However, no conclusive observations have been made yet mainly due to a difficulty in controlling the proportion of oleic acid without adjusting the levels of the other fatty acids to be constant, which could also affect plasma cholesterol levels. Recent findings also suggest that dietary PUFA results in higher tendency toward lipid peroxidation whereas with MUFA the susceptibility of low density lipoprotein to oxidative stress is reduced. More studies are needed to clarify the effects of MUFA on reducing the incidence of CHD.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.347-351
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• 2014

Inflammation is one mechanism through which cancer is initiated and progresses, and is implicated in the etiology of other conditions that affect cancer risk and prognosis, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and visceral obesity. Emerging human evidence, primarily epidemiological, suggests that walnuts impact risk of these chronic diseases via inflammation. The published literature documents associations between walnut consumption and reduced risk of cancer, and mortality from cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, particularly within the context of the Mediterranean Diet. While encouraging, follow-up in human intervention trials is needed to better elucidate any potential cancer prevention effect of walnuts, per se. In humans, the far-reaching positive effects of a plant-based diet that includes walnuts may be the most critical message for the public. Indeed, appropriate translation of nutrition research is essential for facilitating healthful consumer dietary behavior. This paper will explore the translation and application of human evidence regarding connections with cancer and biomarkers of inflammation to the development of dietary guidance for the public and individualized dietary advice. Strategies for encouraging dietary patterns that may reduce cancer risk will be explored.