Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Apr 15;13(4):1307.
doi: 10.3390/nu13041307.

Mediterranean Diet and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Perpetual Inspiration for the Scientific World. A Review

Tatjana Milenkovic  1   2 , Nadica Bozhinovska  3 , Djuro Macut  4 , Jelica Bjekic-Macut  5 , Dario Rahelic  6   7   8 , Zelija Velija Asimi  9   10 , Azra Burekovic  11   12
Affiliations
Review

Mediterranean Diet and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Perpetual Inspiration for the Scientific World. A Review

Tatjana Milenkovic et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

For the past 80 years, the effect of the Mediterranean diet on overall health has been a constant topic of interest among medical and scientific researchers. Parallel with the persistent global rise of cases of type 2 diabetes, many studies conducted in the past 20 years have shown the benefits of the Mediterranean lifestyle for people with, or at risk of developing, type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, despite the large body of evidence, concerns exist amongst scientists regarding the reliability of the data related to this topic. This review offers a glimpse of the onset of the Mediterranean diet and follows its significant impact on the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes. There is a constant rise in type 2 diabetes cases on the Balkan Peninsula and North Macedonia in particular. Having in mind that North Macedonia, as well as most of the countries on the Balkans have low to middle income, there is a need for a certain affordable dietary pattern to ameliorate the rise in diabetes incidence, as well as improve the glycemic control. We did a review based on the available literature regarding Mediterranean diet and people with or at risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus, its effects on glycemic control, lipid profile and metabolic outcome.

Keywords: Mediterranean diet; insulin resistance; obesity; prediabetes; type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The initial concept for Mediterranean diet pyramid. In 1993, Oldways created the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid—in partnership with the Harvard School of Public Health and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Flow diagram of literature search to identify Meta-Analysis and Systematic reviews evaluating the effect of Mediterranean diet on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus and diabetes prevention.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The foundation of the Mediterranean diet based on the original recommendation created by Oldways in partnership with the Harvard School of Public Health and the World Health Organization.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mediterranean diet vs. Insulin resistance, possible mechanisms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Seshasai S.R.K., Kaptoge S., Kaptoge S., Thompson A., Angelantonio E.D., Gao P., Sarwar N., Whincup P.H., Mukamal K.J., Gillum R.F., et al. Emerging risk factors collaboration. diabetes mellitus, fasting glucose, and risk of cause-specific death. N. Engl. J. Med. 2011;364:829–841. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sarwar N., Gao P., Seshasai S.R.K., Gobin R., Kaptoge S., Angelantonio E.D., Selvin E., Stampfer M., Lawlor D.A., Selvin E., et al. Emerging risk factors collaboration. diabetes mellitus, fasting blood glucose concentration, and risk of vascular disease: A collaborative meta-analysis of 102 prospective studies. Lancet. 2010;375:2215–2222. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tancredi M., Rosengren A., Svensson A.M., Kosiborod M., Pivodic A., Gudbjörnsdottir S., Wedel H., Clements M., Dahlqvist S., Lind M. Excess mortality among persons with type 2 diabetes. N. Engl. J. Med. 2015;373:1720–17326. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1504347. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Farooqui T., Farooqui A.A. Role of the Mediterranean Diet in the Brain and Neurodegenerative Diseases. Academic Press; Cambridge, MA, USA: 2018. Effect of mediterranean diet components on type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome; pp. 209–222. Chapter 13.
    1. Della Corte C.M., Ciaramella V., Di Mauro C., Castellone M.D., Papaccio F., Fasano M., Sasso F.C., Martinelli E., Troiani T., De Vita F., et al. Metformin increases antitumor activity of MEK inhibitors through GLI1 downregulation in LKB1 positive human NSCLC cancer cells. Oncotarget. 2016;7:4265–4278. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.6559. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources