Mediterranean Diet Along With Exercise May Help Reduce Fat Deposits: Study

According to a study published in the Journal Circulation, moderate exercise along with a Mediterranean and low carbohydrate diet may help reduce the amount of some fat deposits. The study happened to use MRI imaging technology for the first time to plot the diverse changes in an array of body organ fat storage during 18 month of Mediterranean-low-carb diet low fat diets with and without moderate physical exercise. The researchers sought to assess how distinct lifestyle strategies would impact specific body fat deposits (adipose).

To determine these deposits, they collected an unprecedented quantity of whole body MRI data in benchmark six-month and 18 month scans, each with 300 data points, from moderately overweight to obese men and women. The findings suggested that moderate exercise combined with a Mediterranean diet may help reduce the amount of fat deposits even if you do not lose significant amount of weight as a part of the effort.

The 18 month trial included 278 sedentary adults in an isolated workplace, with a monitored lunch provided. The participants were randomised to iso-caloric low-fat or Med-LC diet - 28 grammes of walnuts per day with or without an added moderate workout at least three times weekly and a supervised, free gym membership.

In the study, even with only moderate weight loss, Med-LC diet was found to be superior to a low-fat diet in decreasing some of the fat storage pools, including visceral, intra-hepatic, intra-pericardial and pancreatic fats. The various fat deposits exhibited highly diverse responsiveness to the interventions, along with moderate, long-term, weight loss.

A Mediterranean diet is rich in unsaturated fats and low in carbohydrates; therefore, it makes for a more effective strategy than an iso-caloric low-fat diet to dramatically reverse morbid fat storage sites.

With Inputs from PTI