Effect of the Mediterranean diet in combination with exercise on metabolic syndrome parameters: 1-year randomized controlled trial

This work aimed to evaluate and compare the benefits of the energy restricted Mediterranean diet (MD) and Standard hypolipemic diet (SHD) accompanied by exercise on metabolic syndrome parameters. A 12-month, randomized, single-blinded, diet-controlled study was conducted on 124 obese participants in the University Hospital Dubrava. Participants were assigned to the MD (n = 63) or the SHD (n = 61) and received the same amount of nutritional education and guidance on physical activity. The completion rate was 67.7 %. Both diets produced significant beneficial changes in body weight and waist circumference (P < 0.001 for MD and SHD). Compared with the SHD, HDL cholesterol increased (P = 0.031) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) decreased (P = 0.020) in the MD group. Fasting plasma glucose decreased significantly in both diet groups (P < 0.001 for MD; P = 0.026 for SHD). Although both diets accompanied by physical activity yielded similar weight reduction results, adherence to the MD was associated with more prominent reduction of the MetS components, namely HDL level elevation and SBP reduction.