Mediterranean Diet vs Metabolic Syndrome

I thought I'd start out this week just the same way I ended last week, looking for trends.  It turns out that some authors published a meta-analysis released this week in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology looking over 50 original studies involving 534,906 participants and came to the same conclusion as others in the past:  adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with a lower risk of metabolic syndrome.

Furthermore, when study types were broken down into epidemiological/observational & clinical trials, both demonstrated a protective effect on the individual components of metabolic syndrome, eg waist circumference, HDL, triglycerides, blood pressure, and glucose.

Now, I don't have access to all 50 studies.  But in my personal library, I found studies published in September 2004 and December 2008, both with general findings similar to that above.  The point of this is that changing one's diet/nutrition/lifestyle is a relatively inexpensive means to manage costs associated with the end-stage outcome of metabolic syndrome, eg obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.  The year is still new.  Set an example for your patients.  Commit yourself to a better, healthier you!