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People following the “green Mediterranean” diet burn a dangerous type of body fat four times faster than most dieters, a study found.
Those who followed a plant-based diet for 18 months saw their visceral fat levels drop by 14 percent, compared to just 4.5 percent in a control group that followed a standard healthy diet.
Visceral fat wraps around vital organs and in the abdomen, typically giving a person the shape of a beer belly or apple.
This type is the most dangerous because it is thought to release chemicals and hormones into the blood that cause inflammation, which is linked to chronic diseases such as heart disease and fatty liver disease. The proximity of the organs increases the risk.
The Mediterranean diet – high in fats and protein but low in carbohydrates – has exploded in popularity in recent years with a wealth of studies touting its benefits for longevity, reducing frailty and warding off cancer.
The above shows a healthy, Mediterranean and “green” Mediterranean diet consumed in the study. The healthy diet (left) followed basic dietary guidelines, while the Mediterranean diet (center) followed standard recommendations for this type of diet high in beans, legumes, whole grains, leafy greens, nuts, and fish. The ‘green’ Mediterranean diet was a variation on this in which consumers replaced some meat with green tea and a duckweed shake
The “green” Mediterranean diet is still high in beans, legumes, whole grains, leafy greens, olive oil, nuts and fish, but puts more emphasis on vegetables.
People in this group in the latest study were told to ditch red meat and poultry and consume three to four cups of green tea and a duckweed shake every day.
Researchers believe that polyphenols — plant compounds that protect body tissues from stress — help burn fat, which has been noted in previous studies.
Dr. Hila Zelicha, an obesity expert at Ben-Gurion University in Israel, who was involved in the study, said: “A 14 percent reduction in visceral fat is a dramatic achievement for making simple changes to your diet and lifestyle.”
The study – published today in the journal BMC medicine — looked at 294 adults who were an average of 50 years old and had a BMI of 31, putting them in the obese category. Nearly nine out of ten were men.
They were split into three equal groups to follow the specific diet plan for the duration of the study – from May 2017 to November 2018.
The graph above shows the percentage of visceral fat (shown as VAT) lost among participants, depending on which group they were assigned to
Two groups were told to eat a variation of the Mediterranean diet.
One followed a ‘green’, plant-based version and the rest followed a standard Mediterranean diet.
Both groups were told to limit their calorie consumption to a maximum of 1,400 per day for women and 1,800 per day for men.
Those in the normal Mediterranean group were asked to eat a handful of walnuts per day.
Both groups were told to eat less than 40 grams of carbohydrates per day, such as whole grains and beans, for the first two months. This was increased to 80 g per day for the remainder of the study.
Participants in the healthy diet group were told to loosely follow a Mediterranean diet — consuming plenty of fruits and vegetables — but were not given any calorie restrictions or specific meal plans.
During the study, each group received 90 minutes of nutrition lessons every week for the first month and then once a month for the next five months.
They were then given every other month until the end of the study.
Allen was asked to do aerobic exercise and resistance training for 45 to 60 minutes three to four times a week. They also received free gym memberships to encourage inclusion.
MRIs were taken at the beginning and end of the study to measure visceral fat.
Measurements of body weight and waist circumference were also taken.
The “green” diet group lost an average of 3.9 percent of their total body weight and 5.7 percent of their waist circumference — the most of any group.
By comparison, those following the standard Mediterranean diet lost 2.7 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively.
And those on the healthy diet lost 0.4 percent and 3.6 percent.
But the differences between the groups’ total weight loss were not significant, the researchers said.
It was the difference in visceral fat that was noticeable, said Dr. Zelicha, who added, “Weight loss is only an important goal if it is accompanied by impressive results in adipose tissue reduction.”
Professor Iris Shai, a nutritionist who led the study and is also at Harvard University, said: ‘We learned from the results of our experiment that the quality of food is no less important than the number of calories consumed and the goal today is to understand the mechanisms of different nutrients.
“For example, positive ones like the polyphenols, and negative ones like empty carbs and processed red meat, about the rate of fat cell differentiation and their aggregation in the gut.”
The researchers said the “green” diet increased levels of polyphenols in the body compared to the others.
They hypothesized that this led to the higher weight loss in the group based on previous studies in mice.
This showed that polyphenols reduced obesity more quickly in the rodents, which was presumably due to the energy needed to digest them and then use them in the body.
The duckweed shake, consumed by those on a green diet, was high in protein, iron B12, vitamins and polyphenols.
People following the ‘green Mediterranean’ diet rapidly burn a dangerous type of body fat responsible for ‘beer bellies’ (stock image)