“The glomerular filtration rate of those who eat a Mediterranean diet is higher than that of those who eat a low-fat diet”
Mediterranean diet. Provided by Korea Food Communication Forum (KOFRUM)
A study has found that the Mediterranean diet not only prevents heart disease and cancer, but also supports kidney health.
Those who continued the Mediterranean diet had healthier kidneys five years later than those who ate the low-fat diet.
According to the Korea Food Communication Forum (KOFRUM) on the 27th, Spanish researchers recently published a study that found that ‘Mediterranean diet protects kidney health in heart disease patients better than low-fat diet’.
The Mediterranean diet, rich in whole grains, olive oil, fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, and legumes, and low in added sugars and processed meats, is one of the most studied diets in the world.
Professor José Lopez Miranda and Elena Jubero-Serrano of the Department of Internal Medicine at Reina Sofia University Hospital in Spain divided 1002 adults aged 20 to 75 with heart disease into two groups, a Mediterranean diet group and a low-fat diet group, and followed them for 5 years.
The Mediterranean diet group followed the Mediterranean diet principle, but received at least 35% of their total daily calories from fat. The diet of the low-fat group consisted of getting less than 30% of their total daily calories from fat.
The researchers assessed the kidney function of the study participants by their glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). The glomerular filtration rate refers to the amount of blood that the kidneys cleanly filter in 1 minute, and the normal glomerular filtration rate is 90-120 ml per minute. A low glomerular filtration rate indicates poor kidney function.
The glomerular filtration rate after 5 years in the Mediterranean diet group was 1.6 ml/min higher than in the low-fat diet group. In particular, it was found that the glomerular filtration rate increased more markedly when adults with a slightly lower than normal glomerular filtration rate (with moderately poor kidney health) continued the Mediterranean diet.
In particular, the glomerular filtration rate after 5 years in patients with type 2 (adult type) diabetes among the Mediterranean diet group was significantly higher than that of the diabetes patients in the low-fat diet group. This result suggests that the Mediterranean diet is also effective for kidney health in diabetic patients.
The research team emphasized in the paper, “If you have heart disease or diabetes, it is good to eat a Mediterranean diet for a long time to maintain kidney health.”
The results of this study were published in the latest issue of ‘Clinical Nutrition’, the official journal of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN).
In this regard, Kim Hyung-mi, an adjunct professor at Yonsei University’s Graduate School of Clinical Nutrition, explained, “Mediterranean food does not mean that you have to use special ingredients that are only found in the Mediterranean.
In Korea, based on the nutritional principle of the Mediterranean diet, ‘Medisolar’, a product that can be easily eaten as a home meal (HMR), was launched. Following the balanced diet, Medisolar recently launched a diet for kidney disease patients in addition to diabetes that meets the food standards for special medical use of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
