What is the green Mediterranean diet and why would it be better than the traditional one?

Israeli researchers carried out an in-depth study and established that this diet reduces visceral fat twice as much. What are the reasons behind this decline?

According to one study, people who follow a green Mediterranean diet burn a dangerous type of body fat at four times the rate of most dieters.

People who followed this plant-based diet for 18 months reduced their visceral fat levels by 14%, compared to 4.5% in the control group who followed a standard healthy diet. This type of adiposity surrounds the vital organs and the interior of the abdomen, which usually gives the shape of a “beer” or apple belly. This type is the most dangerous because it is believed to release chemicals and hormones into the blood that trigger inflammation, which is linked to chronic diseases such as heart disease and fatty liver disease. Their proximity to organs increases the risk.

As a countermeasure, the experts pointed to the Mediterranean diet, rich in fat and protein but low in carbohydrates. This predilection has even caused it to gain popularity in recent years thanks to numerous studies that highlight its benefits for longevity, reduced frailty, and cancer prevention.

This type of diet, rich in plant-based foods, is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes, and now forms the backbone of dietary guidelines to avoid coronary heart disease

Visceral fat is considered by many experts to be the true goal of weight loss and a better indicator of a person’s health than waist size. It accumulates over time between the organs and produces hormones and poisons that lead to heart disease, diabetes, dementia and premature death.

Regarding work, in addition to those established in the traditional Mediterranean diet, in the “green” diet many beans, legumes, whole grains, green leafy vegetables, olive oil, nuts and fish are chosen, but more emphasis is placed on vegetables. For this work, the experts asked the participants to put aside red meat and poultry, in addition to what is established in this type of diet, and consume three to four cups of green tea and a duckweed shake at day.

Two groups were asked to follow a variation of the Mediterranean diet. One followed a ‘green’, plant-based version, which included three to four green teas and a duckweed (Mankai) shake a day. The other followed the standard Mediterranean diet. Both had caloric restrictions of 1,400 calories a day for women and 1,800 for men. They also ate less than 40 g of carbohydrates per day for the first two months, which was later increased to 80 g.

The green Mediterranean diet is a modified version of the Mediterranean diet enriched with dietary polyphenols based on green tea, dried fruit and duckweed

In a third group, participants were advised to eat healthy, but were not given a strict calorie count. They were advised to broadly follow the Mediterranean diet.

Finally, during the study, each group received 90-minute nutrition classes each week for the first month and once a month for the next five months. Afterwards, classes were held every two months until the end of the study.

The study -published in the journal BMC Medicine- analyzed 294 adults who were 50 years old on average and had a BMI of 31, which placed them in the obese category. Nearly nine out of ten were men. They were all put on three different diets and asked to follow them from May 2017 to November 2018.

Additionally, all were asked to perform aerobic and resistance exercise three to four times a week for 45 to 60 minutes. They were also given a free gym subscription to encourage their participation.

MRIs were performed at the beginning and end of the study to measure visceral fat. Participants’ body weight and waist circumference were also measured. These measures decreased in both groups during the study, although there were no significant differences between the reductions.

In the “green” diet group, participants lost an average of 3.9% of their body weight and 5.7% of their waist circumference. Those who followed the standard Mediterranean diet lost 2.7% and 4.7% respectively. And those on a healthy diet lost 0.4% and 3.6%.

“Achieving a 14% reduction in visceral fat is a spectacular achievement by making simple dietary and lifestyle changes,” said Dr. Hila Zelicha, an obesity expert at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University, who participated in the the study.

According to Dr. Zelicha, the difference in visceral fat was the most notable, adding, “Weight loss is an important goal only if it is accompanied by impressive results in fat reduction.”

Professor Iris Shai, a nutritionist who led the research, said: “The results of our experiment taught us that the quality of food is no less important than the number of calories consumed. The objective is to understand the mechanisms of the different nutrients”.

The researchers suggested that the greater loss of visceral fat in the “green” diet group was due to their diets containing more polyphenols. The levels of these plant compounds were higher in these participants than in the other groups.

Researchers believe that polyphenols – plant compounds that protect body tissues against stress – help burn fat, as has been observed in previous studies. The results of this work were decisive, according to the experts.

Digesting these compounds requires more energy than other groups, which scientists say burns more energy. This, in turn, caused a drop in weight. The duckweed shake consumed by those on the green diet was high in protein, iron B12, vitamins and polyphenols.