Research is ongoing about how diets influence people’s well-being and how they affect risk for various health problems. An Atlantic diet may help preserve metabolic health; a new study suggests.
- The Atlantic diet is a diet focuses on consuming fresh and local foods that are minimally processed.
- An area of research interest is how this traditional diet can improve health and how it may impact the environment.
- A study found that consuming the Atlantic diet may help reduce metabolic syndrome risk.
“You don’t often hear about the Atlantic diet, but it’s the traditional diet of Northwestern Spain and Portugal. It’s very similar to the Mediterranean diet because it focuses mainly on locally sourced fresh, minimally processed fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and olive oil. It also incorporates a lot of fish and seafood consumption, cheese, milk, meat, and wine. The food is generally cooked via simple methods like grilling, baking, or stewing.”
—Karen Z. Berg MS, RD, CSO, CDN
A study published in JAMA Network Open looked at how the Atlantic diet influenced metabolic syndrome among participants and dietary carbon footprint emissions. Among the 574 participants, researchers found that those following the Atlantic diet significantly reduced their risk formetabolic syndrome.
Does the Atlantic diet influence metabolic health?
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of health factors that can increase the risk of stroke and diabetes. People with metabolic syndrome usually have three or more of the following:
- abdominal obesity
- high blood pressure
- raised blood sugar levels
- high triglycerides
- low “good” (HDL) cholesterol.
Diet and other lifestyle changes can influence metabolic syndrome factors and thus impact the risk for even more severe health conditions. Researchers of this particular study wanted to see how the Atlantic diet affected metabolic syndrome risk.
Berg continues, “The study found that the intervention group had less risk of developing metabolic syndrome after 6 months on the Atlantic Diet. Also, people who already had metabolic syndrome at the start of the trial were significantly less likely to exhibit an additional component of metabolic syndrome. That is an important thing to note because when people have metabolic syndrome, it is imperative to stop or slow the progression of disease.”
Source: Excerpted from an article By Jessica Freeborn —Fact checkedby Hannah Flynn
