Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Is the Mediterranean Diet as Great as They Say? The Answer, According to Science

Episode Date: November 15, 2019

In the early 1960s, a scientist named Ancel Keys was puzzling over a question: Why were rich, middle-aged businessmen in Minnesota more likely to die of heart disease than poor villagers in Italy? Up to this point, most scientists considered heart disease to be part and parcel of the aging process—a result of your decaying DNA rather than your diet or exercise habits. But then there were these remote villages in Southern Italy that had the highest rates of centenarians in the world and some of the lowest rates of heart disease, despite being populated with people genetically similar to American men. Data like this convinced Keys that heart disease might be preventable, and was bolstered by other findings. For instance, Keys discovered that in food-starved regions of post-war Europe, cardiovascular disease dropped along with the food supply, implying a connection between the two seemingly unrelated circumstances. As the evidence mounted, Keys became more convinced that diet was a key factor in the risk of heart disease, and to test his hypothesis, he conducted an enormous study—one that would become his magnum opus. The short story is that the Mediterranean diet is popular among scientists, doctors, and the average dieter for a reason: it’s a perfectly healthy way to eat. That said, it’s not for everyone and not the only way to eat well. Let’s find out why. 7:28 - What is the Mediterranean diet? 12:08 - Why is the Mediterranean diet popular? 12:50 - Can the Mediterranean diet prevent heart disease? 26:22 - Can you get the health benefits associated with the Mediterranean diet while still eating red meat, dairy, and poultry? 30:07 - Can the Mediterranean diet prevent type 2 diabetes? 35:24 - Does the Mediterranean diet help you lose weight? 39:13 - Can the Mediterranean diet help you live longer? -------- Mentioned on The Show: Books by Mike Matthews -------- Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter! Click here: https://www.legionathletics.com/signup/

Hey, Mike here. And if you like what I'm doing on the podcast and elsewhere, and if you want to help me help more people get into the best shape of their lives, please do consider picking up one of my bestselling health and fitness books, including Bigger, Leaner, Stronger for Men, Thinner, Leaner, Stronger for Women, my flexible dieting cookbook, The Shredded Chef, and my 100% practical and hands-on blueprint for personal transformation inside and outside of the gym, The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation. Now, these books have sold well over 1 million copies and have helped thousands of people build their best bodies ever. And you can find them on all major online retailers like Audible, Amazon, iTunes, Kobo, and Google Play, as well as in select Barnes & Noble stores. Again, that's Bigger Leaner Stronger for Men, Thinner Leaner Stronger for Women, The Shredded Chef, and The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation. Oh, and I should also mention that you can get any of the audiobooks 100% free when you sign up for an Audible account, which is the perfect way to make those pockets of downtime,

like commuting, meal prepping, and cleaning, more interesting, entertaining, and productive. meal prepping, and cleaning more interesting, entertaining, and productive. So if you want to take Audible up on that offer, and if you want to get one of my audio books for free, go to www.legionathletics.com slash Audible. That's L-E-G-I-O-N athletics slash A-U-D-I-B-L-E, and sign up for your account. Hello, dear listener. It is me, your dear leader, Mike Matthews, and this is Muscle for Life. Welcome to another episode. This time, we're going to talk about the Mediterranean diet. And is it as great as people say?

Well, let's start this story in the 1960s with a guy named Ansel Keys, a scientist who was puzzling over a question. Why were rich middle-aged businessmen in Minnesota more likely to die of heart disease than these poor villagers who lived over in Italy. Now, up until this point, most scientists considered heart disease to be part and parcel of the aging process, just a natural result, an inevitable result of your decaying DNA, rather than the result of your lifestyle, of your diet and exercise habits, for example. But then there were these remote villages in southern Italy that had the highest rate of centenarians in the world, people reaching 100 years old, and some of the lowest rates of heart disease, despite being populated with people genetically similar to American men.

Now, it was data like this that convinced Keyes that heart disease might be preventable. It might not be an inevitable consequence of getting older. And this was then bolstered by other findings. For example, Keyes discovered that in food-starved regions of post-war Europe, cardiovascular disease dropped along with the food supply, implying that there was a connection between the two seemingly unrelated circumstances. And as the evidence mounted, Keyes became more and more convinced that diet was indeed a key factor in the risk of heart disease. And to test his hypothesis, he conducted an enormous study, one that would become his life's work, his magnum

opus. So this study started in 1958, and it involved gathering data from 12,763 men from Finland, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, Japan, and the United States, as well as the Netherlands. And this became known as the Seven Countries Study for that reason. And the goal of this study was to analyze the diets and the rates of heart disease and death among men from very different regions. And while the most popularized finding from this study was a correlation between saturated fat intake and cholesterol levels and heart disease, another important discovery was the low incidence of heart disease and early death among people following what would become known as the Mediterranean diet. Now, specifically, what made these heart-healthy

people different, at least as far as their diet went, is they ate less saturated fat and cholesterol and more fruits, vegetables, legumes, seafood, and olive oil than their least healthy counterparts in other places of the world. And interest in this method of dieting, this type of diet, was boosted by several best-selling books that Keyes and his wife published in the 1970s, including How to Eat Well and Stay Well, The Mediterranean Way, and The Benevolent Bean. not the best marketing. The Mediterranean Diet was a better book that came later, at least as far as the marketing package went. Anyway, in a fitting testament to his life's work, Keyes died in 2004 at 101 years old and his legacy lives on because

that seven country study is still ongoing. And the Mediterranean diet has become the basis for the food pyramid in the United States and most official dietary recommendations around the world. And proponents of the Mediterranean diet claim that it can minimize the risk of a whole host of illnesses and ailments, including heart disease, stroke, and atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and others. But like everything related to nutrition, health, and fitness, the Mediterranean diet is not without critics. Some of the more common claims leveled against this diet and Key's work

in particular include the methods that were used to collect data for the seven countries study. Some people will say that they were biased and that the results can't be trusted. Another common criticism is that the Mediterranean diet offers no unique benefits that can't be obtained from other types of diets. And yet another is the Mediterranean diet contributes to diabetes due to the large amount of carbs that you tend to eat if you're following it, and especially carbs like pasta, bread, and grains. Now, who's right here? Well, the short story is the Mediterranean diet is popular among scientists, doctors, and the average everyday dieter for a good reason. It is a perfectly healthy way to eat. That said, it's not for everyone, and it's certainly not the only way

to eat well, or even the absolute best way for everyone to eat. And in this podcast, we are going to break it all down. Let's start with what the Mediterranean diet is exactly. What does it entail? Well, as the name implies, it's based on how people in several countries in the Mediterranean basin eat, and particularly Italy and Greece. Ancel Keys, he gathered data from both of these countries for the seven countries study, and he found that their diets largely revolved around whole grains, olive oil, and wine, with varying amounts and types of seafood, beans, fruits, and vegetables. And in 1993, the Harvard School of Public Health and a non-profit organization called Old Ways endorsed Key's work by publishing a Mediterranean-style food pyramid.

And this food pyramid involved eating a lot of fish like salmon, sardines, mackerel, tilapia, cod, and so forth. A lot of fresh and cooked vegetables like bell peppers, cucumbers, leafy greens, carrots, so on. Whole grains like barley, oats, quinoa, and whole grain bread. Legumes such as chickpeas, lentils, and kidney black and pinto beans. Nuts like almonds, cashews, pistachios, and walnuts, seeds including flax, sesame, and pumpkin seeds, fresh fruits like strawberries, apples, grapes, oranges, cherries, and berries, olive oil, and other sources of monounsaturated fats in particular like olives and avocado, and finally herbs and spices like garlic, oregano, basil, rosemary, sage, mint, and so on. So that was really, that's the staple of this Mediterranean

food diet. Those are the foods that you would be eating the most of. And then foods that you'd be eating some of include poultry, eggs, cheese, yogurt, wine, coffee, and tea, if you want. And foods you'd be eating very little of include processed meat like bacon, sausage, and prosciutto, red meat of any kind, sugary drinks and desserts, refined grains like breakfast cereal, energy bars, and pastries, and trans fat of any kind, at least artificial trans fat of any kind. Now, another important factor that's stressed by most Mediterranean dieters is savoring your food with friends and family without technological distractions like phones, TVs, computers, and so on. In other words, you're supposed to eat mindfully, so to speak. And I know that sounds kind of woo-woo, but research shows that

that is actually one of the common denominators among all of the cultures that have long enjoyed long lives and robust health well into old age. And this was reflected in the seven countries study as well. And other studies show that taking the time to really focus on your food and savor your meals when you're eating them, and especially with family, can help people subconsciously eat less, decrease stress, and even reduce the risk of various unhealthy behaviors like smoking, drug use, and promiscuity. Now, most proponents of the Mediterranean diet also emphasize the importance of portion control, which is yet another common best practice, so to speak, among the different cultures analyzed in the seven countries study. For example, in Japan, the people had a tradition of eating until satisfied, but not overly full. And many other of the countries analyzed followed similar rules of thumb. One of the limiting factors, one of the downsides of this diet is there are no official macronutrient guidelines, which is okay for most people, but not optimal, even for people who

aren't particularly into fitness and who aren't particularly physically active, because how the Mediterranean diet usually works out is something like this. It's relatively high carb, let's say 40 to 60% of calories per day coming from carbs, moderate fat intake, something between 20 and 40% of daily calories coming from fat, and then pretty low in protein, only 10 to 20% of calories coming from protein. As you can guess, my main criticism here would be the low protein, but we'll get into that in a little bit. The Mediterranean diet is also often promoted as a weight loss diet. And while many people do lose weight with it in the beginning, it's usually not a viable

long-term weight loss strategy. And that's also something we'll talk a bit more about as we get into the details. So now let's talk about why the Mediterranean diet is still very popular. Why do people follow this diet? Well, the primary reason people are following it goes back to its origin story for reducing the risk of heart disease. And studies do show that, yes, it certainly can do that. And it also can reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, and dementia.

During the obesity surge of the 90s, the Mediterranean diet also gained quite a bit of buzz as an effective weight loss protocol. At bottom though, it really has become synonymous with heart health. So why don't we start our deep dive into the pros and cons by looking at its relationship with heart disease. Can the Mediterranean diet prevent heart disease? And to answer that question, let's start by reviewing the findings of a study, of the study that started it all, the Seven Countries Study. And this seminal research showed that there was a correlation between cholesterol levels in the blood and the risk of heart disease over the next five to 40 years. It also showed that increased blood pressure was correlated with an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. It showed that cardiovascular disease was closely linked with overall mortality.

Most people were dying from some form of heart or blood vessel disease. It showed that people with risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as increased cholesterol, are also at an increased risk of dementia and other brain disorders as they get older. And lastly, it showed that people in the United States and Northern Europe had much higher rates of cardiovascular disease than people from Southern Europe and Japan. As you can imagine, these discoveries sparked a very heated scientific debate, one that still rages today. And to understand why, you first have to realize how little we knew about nutrition and health back when this study was conducted. We take it for granted now that there's a connection

between diet and long-term health, but that was a controversial theory back in the late 1950s. People at that time generally ate what they could afford and what they preferred and what they had access to. And they didn't really give much thought to the potential long-term ramifications of their dietary habits. Now, Keyes, he correctly suspected that what we eat does significantly impact our health and wellness. And this led him to conduct the seven countries Study, which was the first multi-country study on nutrition and health ever conducted. And it was the largest to look at the link between diet and heart disease. And it's still one of the longest running studies of human health in the world. And despite what some people say, Keyes was no scientific slouch. For example, he invented the K-ration, which was one of the earliest

versions of a meal ready to eat, an MRE, that was used by all branches of the armed forces during World War II. Keyes conducted the most extreme study of human metabolism ever done with the Minnesota starvation experiment. And he also oversaw some of the earliest experiments on how the human body responded to changes in altitude. So, thanks to Key's bona fides and the impressive scope and rigor of the Seven Countries study, its conclusions made quite a splash in the scientific community. Many experts at the time then speculated that the association between dietary cholesterol intake and blood levels of cholesterol was likely causative and formulated what became known as the diet heart hypothesis. And this more or less boiled

down to one, cholesterol in the blood causes heart disease. Two, eating dietary cholesterol raises levels of cholesterol in the blood. And three, to avoid heart disease, people should avoid foods that are high in cholesterol, like saturated fat. And this was a perfectly reasonable idea, one that Keyes got behind as well. And it soon became official policy by many countries, including the United States. Fast forward to today, however, and we know that the true relationship between dietary fat intake and heart disease is more nuanced than that. For example, Keyes was correct in that there is a connection between cholesterol levels in the blood and heart disease, but in most people, research shows that eating cholesterol and saturated fat doesn't usually raise blood levels of cholesterol or increase the risk of heart disease. Ever since Keyes first published his data, though, a long

list of scientists have seized on such discrepancies to just dismiss Keyes and his work as fraudulent and dismiss his crusade against dietary fat as just a ploy for personal enrichment. The loudest of these people, of these detractors, are the new breed of high-fat diet gurus, guys like Gary Taubes, who claims Keyes and his research are the epitome of everything that's wrong with nutrition science. Such allegations are ridiculous. Yes, the seven-country study was imperfect, and Keyes did oversell some of its conclusions, but it and he was more right than wrong. Keyes even acknowledged as much when he was interviewed in 1961 for a Time magazine article that made him famous. At bottom, however, Keyes' take-home advice was to eat less

fat meat, fewer eggs and dairy products, and to spend more time on fish, chicken, calves' liver, I'm quoting here, Canadian bacon, Italian food, Chinese food, supplemented by fresh fruits, vegetables, and casseroles. Nobody wants to live on mush, but reasonably low-fat diets can provide infinite variety and aesthetic satisfaction for the most fastidious, if not the most gluttonous among us. In other words, Keys was recommending a pretty balanced diet, mostly plant-based with more fish than meat and more monounsaturated fat than saturated fat. And that's hardly a recipe for a highly marketable fad diet that can pave the way to fame and fortune. Now, the most common criticism of Keyes' work is that he cherry-picked the data for his seven-country study. Specifically, it's often claimed he originally gathered data from 22 countries, but only chose to use data from seven that aligned with his initial assumptions. And while it's true that Keyes

did not include all of the data in the final results, it is disingenuous to say that it was due to foul play. You see, it's not only common, but it's also necessary for researchers to exclude some data from their study results because there are often good reasons to do so. For example, Keys excluded some countries because their diets deviated too much from the Mediterranean diet, which would have made it difficult to study the effects of their particular style of eating. Keys did exclude France as well, though, which generated quite a bit of controversy due to what is now known as the French paradox. So in short, the French had low rates of heart disease despite eating large amounts of saturated fat.

So why did Keyes exclude them? Well, this actually wasn't discovered until decades after the seven countries study began. So it's more likely that Keyes excluded the data on the French because he just wasn't able to gather enough reliable information on their eating habits, not because he had some bias against high-fat diets. Moreover, as journalist Denise Minger points out in a great article that she wrote over at her website, denisemingerminger.com, even when you include all the data Keyes excluded, there's still a significant correlation between fat intake and heart disease. Perhaps the strongest counter-argument to Keyes' research, however, is this. Many countries did a pretty shabby job of

accurately identifying and recording causes of death. And this made heart disease seem more prevalent than it really was. So for example, someone could die of a brain aneurysm yet due to negligence, incompetence, or technical deficiency or technological deficiency. The physician might ascribe that death to just heart disease. To explore the ramifications of this point in particular, scientists in the 1950s removed all of the deaths supposedly linked to heart disease from Keyes' data and then reanalyzed it. And this produced almost the exact opposite results of the original study. Now, the people who consumed the most fat, animal fat, and animal products had the lowest risk of dying from all causes. Additionally, the people who ate the most carbs

also lived the shortest lives. Now, some people like to point to those findings as proof that eating an abundance of dietary fat, including saturated fat, is indeed healthy and carbs are detrimental, but that's not what the researchers concluded. A more likely explanation for this observation, they explained in their own research, is that people who eat more animal products also tend to be more affluent and live in more developed areas, which then affords them greater access to high quality medical care and education, as well as a generally safer environment. So in other words, these people were living longer in spite of their diets, not because of them. So what are you supposed to make of all of this?

Does the Mediterranean diet actually reduce the risk of heart disease? The truth is we don't really know. The seven countries study is observational research, meaning it follows a bunch of people around for some period of time, and then it records what they eat and what they do and how their health changes. And this research is very useful. It is used to tease out correlations, associations, but it can never establish causations. In other words, observational research can be used to say it appears there may be a connection here, but not this causes that. To establish causation, scientists must perform rigorous experiments that allow them to isolate and control important factors. Now, fortunately for us, dozens of those types of studies have been conducted on Mediterranean-ish

diets and heart disease since the publication of that original seven-country study, including several in-depth meta-analyses, which are studies of studies and are high levels of evidence. For example, in one meta-analysis, scientists from Warwick Medical School examined data from 11 studies that included 52,000 participants and included studies that involved one group following a diet that met at least two of these seven criteria. One, high intake of monounsaturated fat. Two, low to moderate intake of red wine, three, high intake of legumes, four, high intake of cereals and grains, five, high intake of fruits and vegetables, six, low intake of meat and dairy products and or high intake of seafood,

and seven, low to moderate intake of dairy products. And one group as well that ate a standard Western diet, which was kind of the exact opposite of the above criteria. So after looking at a number of potential risk factors for heart disease and actual cardiovascular events like heart attack strokes and so forth, the researchers found that people who were following the Mediterranean-ish diet did indeed experience a slight drop in their total and LDL cholesterol levels, but no difference in cardiovascular events. And as a result, the scientists concluded that limited evidence to date suggests some favorable effects on cardiovascular risk factors, but that more evidence was needed to prove this was the case.

Now, if we look at several other meta-analyses, they have come to the same conclusion. The Mediterranean diet may help reduce the risk of heart disease, but if it does, it's probably not by very much. And that position was strengthened in 2018 when the authors of a popular study used to promote the Mediterranean diet as cardioprotective were forced to admit that they'd bungled their analysis and the benefits were less significant than they had originally reported. So if you take it as a whole, the weight of the evidence indicates a Mediterranean type diet is more-healthy than how most people here in the West eat, but that begs a question.

What about the Mediterranean diet or a Mediterranean-ish diet? Most accounts for this observation are certain elements of this diet more impactful than others. For example, the traditional Mediterranean diet revolves around restricting your intake of red meat, eggs, and dairy, but those are hard recommendations to square with the findings of other studies that have shown, for example, that high cholesterol foods like eggs are more or less exonerated at this point from having any link to heart disease. Processed meats may increase the risk of disease, but there's little evidence that red meat per se

increases the risk of heart disease. And dairy is generally considered healthy and more likely to prevent disease than contribute to it. So the question here then is, can you get the health benefits associated with the Mediterranean diet while still consuming plenty of red meat, dairy, and poultry? Can you omit certain portions of the diet without drawbacks, such as nuts, wine, and bread? Can you improve your health and well-being just as much by eating more foods high in monounsaturated fats, fiber, and micronutrients, and just fewer processed foods in general? Well, based on decades of research, the most scientifically accurate answer to those questions is probably, hey, that's better than it depends, right? You see, when it comes to preventing heart disease, studies show that the most effective

recipe, at least that we know of right now, appears to be stay active, don't smoke, don't get fat, just manage your energy balance properly, eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, eat plenty of monounsaturated fat and some polyunsaturated fats. Eat moderate amounts of saturated fat. Less than 10% of your total calories should come from saturated fat. And get most of your calories from whole, minimally processed, nutrient-dense foods. If you do those seven things, you will bring your risk of heart disease to about as low as it possibly can go. And I'd also like to punch up the importance of staying active because most people tend to fixate

on diet and nutrition in relation to health and then pay little attention to the effects of exercise. In the case of heart health though, research shows physical activity is a more reliable protector against heart disease than switching to a different diet or avoiding certain foods. So what that means then is if you are sedentary, and especially if you are sedentary and overweight, you're going to have significantly increased risk of heart disease regardless of what you do or don't eat. Drizzling some more olive oil on your whole grain bread or swapping salmon for steak is not going to help you nearly as much as just working out a few times per week

and having a healthy body composition. Hey, before we continue, if you like what I'm doing here on the podcast and elsewhere, and if you want to help me help more people get into the best shape of their lives, please do consider picking up one of my best-selling health and fitness books. My most popular ones are Bigger, Leaner, Stronger for Men, Thinner, Leaner, Stronger for Women, my flexible dieting cookbook, The Shredded Chef, and my 100% practical hands-on blueprint for personal transformation, The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation. Now, these books have sold well over 1 million copies and have helped thousands of people build their best body ever.

And you can find them anywhere online where you can buy books like Amazon, Audible, iTunes, Kobo, and Google Play, as well as in select Barnes & Noble stores. So again, that is Bigger, Leaner, Stronger for Men, Thinner, Leaner, Stronger for Women, The Shredded Chef, and The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation. Oh, and one other thing is you can get any one of those audiobooks 100% free when you sign up for an Audible account. And that's a great way to make those pockets of downtime, like commuting, meal prepping, and cleaning more interesting, entertaining, and productive. Now, if you want to take Audible up on that offer and get one of my audio books for free, just go to legionathletics.com slash Audible and sign up for your account. All right, let's talk about type 2 diabetes and the Mediterranean diet. Can it prevent type 2

diabetes? And in case you're not familiar with type 2 diabetes, it's a disease where the body is not able to properly manage glucose levels. Typically, it's the result of overeating and becoming overweight. It's very much a lifestyle disease, and that impairs the body's ability to absorb glucose from the blood. And as a result, people with type 2 diabetes have chronically high glucose levels, which then can damage nerves, blood vessels, and all kinds of cells throughout the body. And one of the most common dietary recommendations for managing type 2 diabetes is to eat less carbohydrate. This is a disease of excess glucose after all, so reducing carbohydrate intake should reduce glucose in the blood as well,

resulting in fewer symptoms. Now, the Mediterranean diet is generally high carb, at least high-ish carb, so it would seem to be pretty poorly suited to people with type 2 diabetes. Interestingly, though, research shows otherwise. For example, there was a meta-analysis that was conducted by scientists at the Peninsula College of Medicine and dentistry. And in this study, the researchers scrutinized 20 different studies on people with type 2 diabetes that involved a comparison of low-carb, vegetarian, vegan, low-glycemic index, high-fiber, high-protein, and Mediterranean-style diets with low-fat, high-glycemic index, low-protein, and several other types of diets that are often recommended for diabetics. And rather surprisingly, the scientists found that people following the high-carb Mediterranean diet, the low-carb diet, the low glycemic index diet, and the high-protein diet all experienced a reduction in their average blood glucose levels, with the group following the Mediterranean diet doing the best by a small margin. The people following the Mediterranean style diet also experienced the

greatest drop in blood pressure, the most weight loss, and the biggest improvement in HDL cholesterol, the quote-unquote good cholesterol. Another study supporting the benefits of the Mediterranean diet for diabetics was conducted by scientists at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. And in this study, the researchers split 322 middle-aged obese men and women into one of three groups. Group one followed a calorie-restricted low-fat diet. Group two followed a calorie-restricted Mediterranean diet. And group three followed an unrestricted low-carb diet, which was the Atkins diet. Group 2 followed a calorie-restricted Mediterranean diet, and group 3 followed an unrestricted low-carb diet, which was the Atkins diet. After two years, the researchers then measured how much weight the participants lost and noted any changes in cholesterol levels and symptoms of diabetes. Once again, the Mediterranean diet improved glucose levels more than the low-carb diet and helped the participants lose just as much weight. These results are supported by other studies as well, showing that the Mediterranean

diet can indeed reduce markers of diabetes and that eating less fruit, and thus carbs, does not improve the symptoms of diabetes. So how can this be? What's going on here? How can blood glucose levels improve so markedly in people who are eating a lot of carbs? Well, the simple answer is that managing type 2 diabetes involves a lot more than just depriving your body of glucose. For one thing, the Mediterranean diet generally includes a lot of fiber from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. And research shows that eating enough fiber can in and of itself significantly improve insulin sensitivity. Now, why is that important? Well, insulin is a hormone that shuttles glucose out of the blood and into cells. And when your cells

become less responsive to its effects, glucose builds up in the blood. So insulin resistance or insensitivity, you could think of it, is one of the main symptoms of type 2 diabetes. So if you improve insulin sensitivity, then you are fighting the disease. In fact, in doing that is equally, if not more important for getting rid of type 2 diabetes, or at least suppressing type 2 diabetes, than reducing your carb intake. And there are a number of ways to do this to effectively increase insulin sensitivity and therefore effectively deal with type 2 diabetes. Many studies have shown that exercise is one of the absolute best ways to do this and that it can

also significantly reduce the amount of glucose in the blood. Another effective way to increase insulin sensitivity is to simply lose weight if you're overweight because the closer you are to a healthy body weight and particularly symptoms. In most of the studies demonstrating these benefits, the participants were overweight and they lost weight. So the bottom line here is that the Mediterranean diet can improve symptoms of and protect against type 2 diabetes by providing adequate fiber and likely helping with some weight loss. And those things are going to improve insulin sensitivity. Now let's talk about Mediterranean diet and weight loss. This is why many people turn to it. And yes, it certainly can help you lose weight just like any other healthy diet, because it's probably going to help you eat fewer calories than you burn if you are currently

following kind of a standard American diet. And that's a diet that is rich in processed high-calorie junk food. So when you cut that stuff out and replace it with fruits and vegetables and legumes and so forth, your calories drop dramatically. If, however, the Mediterranean diet does not result in a calorie deficit, you are not going to lose weight. And that goes for every other diet out there, including the paleo diet, the ketogenic diet, the carnivore diet, vegan detox diet, whatever, every eating regimen you can think of. That is the case. A calorie deficit is what drives weight loss. Now, with that out of the way, let's talk about the question of,

is the Mediterranean diet ideal for weight loss? And the answer here is probably not. I mean, overall, the Mediterranean diet does have a lot going for it. It is high in fiber and fruits and vegetables and whole grains and other minimally processed foods. And those foods are not only good for you, they provide a lot of nutrition. They're also more satiating than the average Western fare. They're more filling, which then of course makes it easier

to not overeat. And because of all that, the Mediterranean diet does make it easier to eat fewer calories and not suffer for it, to not hopefully not have to deal too much with hunger pangs and cravings and so forth. And that does make it easier to lose weight. The major downside though is something I mentioned earlier, and that is that the Mediterranean diet is pitifully low in protein. And for me, that is a weight loss deal breaker, actually. For example, in one study on the Mediterranean diet, participants consumed just 18% of their total calories from protein, or about 80 grams a day. In another study, it was about 14% of daily calories from protein,

which was like 70 grams per day. And in both cases, the participants in the studies were eating about 0.4 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day. And that is suboptimal because research shows that you want to be closer to 0.8 to maybe even as much as 1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day to lose as much fat and as little muscle as possible. And for most people, that's like two or three times the amount of protein that you'll get on the standard Mediterranean diet. So the bottom line here is study after study after study has confirmed that high protein dieting is superior to low protein dieting in just about every meaningful way. And especially in the context of weight loss, specifically studies show that people who eat more protein lose weight faster, gain more muscle. Of course, they have to be training their muscles. Protein doesn't just give you muscle. They also burn more calories. They

experience less hunger. They have stronger bones. They generally enjoy better moods. And protein intake is even more important when you are exercising regularly because this increases your body's demand for it, increases the body's demand for amino acids, which are provided by protein. Research shows that eating adequate protein is also vital for preserving lean mass when you're dieting, which, if you ask me, is just as important as the fat that you're losing. You want to be holding onto the muscle because if you lose too much muscle, you might just end up skinny fat. And you certainly will if you do that too many times. If you have too many rounds of starvation dieting, low protein dieting, where you're not training your muscles, you lose fat, you lose muscle,

eventually you're skinny fat. And despite what some people would have you believe, protein intake is also important among sedentary people. Studies show that such people lose muscle faster as they get older if they don't eat enough protein. And the faster they lose muscle, the more likely they are to die from all causes. So in some respects, the Mediterranean diet is an ideal weight loss diet because it emphasizes whole filling foods, plenty of fruits, plenty of vegetables, plenty of whole grains, but it does fail to check one of the most important boxes, and that is protein intake. So you'd be much better served by a higher protein version of the Mediterranean diet. All right, the last commonly claimed benefit that I want to touch

on is longevity. Can the Mediterranean diet help you live longer? Well, the Seven Countries study produced a number of very interesting observations. One was the first bit that we talked about. It was that people who followed a Mediterranean-style diet tended to have a slightly lower risk of heart disease. As the study went on, however, it also became apparent that people who followed the Mediterranean diet just tended to have a lower risk of dying from just about everything, including cancer, dementia, Alzheimer's, and several other chronic diseases. Newer, more rigorous studies also do support these findings. 2018 meta-analysis conducted by scientists at the University of Florence involving nearly 13 million participants across 29 different studies found that people following the Mediterranean diet had a significantly lower risk of death from all causes than people who followed other diets.

An earlier meta-analysis published in 2008 and conducted by the same people, the same lab, found that people who followed the Mediterranean diet had a 6% lower risk of dying from cancer. And finally, a 2013 systematic review of 12 studies conducted by scientists at the University of Exeter found that people who followed a Mediterranean diet experienced better cognitive function in old age. All feathers in the cap for sure, but there is a caveat here. Most of the data reviewed was observational, and so that means that we can't quite know for sure whether the Mediterranean diet was increasing longevity or something else. We also don't know whether the Mediterranean diet is superior or even as good as other similar diets, such as a high-protein, mostly plant-based,

higher-carbon, lower-fat, not low-fat, but lower-fat bodybuilding style of diet. For example, we know that simply increasing fruit, vegetable, and fiber intake and reducing alcohol consumption drastically reduces the risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and Alzheimer's, which are most of the leading causes of death in developed countries. So the bottom line here is the Mediterranean diet probably does help people live longer and healthier lives, but you don't need to follow it exactly to get the same results. All right, so let's do a wrap up here. We've covered a lot. We have what is the Mediterranean diet? Well, it's basically just a diet that involves eating a lot of whole grains, olive oil,

fruits, vegetables, some seafood, legumes, and dairy, and very little red meat, saturated fat, sugar, and processed food. And while the Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of heart disease, its effectiveness in this regard has likely been overblown by health authorities, doctors, and gurus, and so forth. Research also suggests that its cardioprotective properties have more to do with the weight loss that people experience on the diet and with eating more fruits and vegetables and less saturated fat than anything else. It's not the wine, unfortunately. And speaking of weight loss, the Mediterranean diet can help you lose weight if you're switching from the average,

pretty poor Western diet, but it's really not an ideal weight loss diet, the Mediterranean diet, because it's generally low in protein. A better idea is to take the Mediterranean-ish diet and just up the protein. And to do that, you could just reduce the carbs, for example. Studies also show people who follow the Mediterranean diet do generally live longer, healthier lives, but so do people who follow more flexible types of diets like eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and some whole grains, some meat, some seafood, some poultry, some dairy, nuts, seeds, and not too much saturated fat, sugar, or other processed foods. So in the final analysis, here's my take on the Mediterranean diet. If it is appealing to you,

do it. I would recommend adding a bit of protein, however, more or less doubling what the average Mediterranean dieter would eat in terms of protein, and especially so if you're physically active. If you're not, of course, you don't need as much protein, but 50 to 60 grams a day is not likely enough for most people. Unless you're a 100-pound woman, that's not enough protein for you. And if you are, yeah, that's probably enough if you're sedentary. But why are you sedentary? You shouldn't be sedentary. You should be exercising, which then should necessitate eating more protein. All right, well, that's it for the Mediterranean diet. for men, Thinner, Leaner, Stronger for women, my flexible dieting cookbook, The Shredded Chef, and my 100% practical and hands-on blueprint for personal transformation inside and outside of the

gym, The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation. Now, these books have sold well over 1 million copies and have helped thousands of people build their best bodies ever. And you can find them on all major online retailers like Audible, Amazon, iTunes, Kobo, and Google Play, as well as in select Barnes & Noble stores. Again, that's Bigger Leaner Stronger for Men, Thinner Leaner Stronger for women, The Shredded Chef, and The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation. Oh, and I should also mention that you can get any of the audiobooks 100% free when you sign up for an Audible account, which is the perfect way to make those pockets of downtime, like commuting, meal prepping, and cleaning more interesting, entertaining, and productive. So if you want to take Audible up on that offer, and if you want to get one of my audiobooks for free, go to www.legionathletics.com slash Audible. That's L-E-G-I-O-N athletics slash A-U-D-I-B-L-E and sign up for your account. All right.

Well, that's it for today's episode. I hope you found it interesting and helpful. And if you did, and you don't mind doing me a favor, could you please leave a quick review for the podcast on iTunes or wherever you are listening from? Because those reviews not only convince people that they should check out the show, they also increase the search visibility and help more people find their way to me and to the podcast and learn how to build their best body ever as well. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then simply subscribe to the podcast in whatever app you're using to listen, and you will not miss out on any of the new stuff that I have coming.

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