A meta-analysis was conducted by a research group in the UK to evaluate the effects of the Mediterranean diet compared to other dietary patterns on measures of glycemic control irrespective of weight loss. Interventions conducted on free-living individuals were included. The Mediterranean diet had no effect of fasting plasma glucose compared to other healthy dietary patterns but improvements in H1AC were noted in those at risk of or with diabetes.

Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. [Epub June 22, 2013] (Carter et al.)

Johns Hopkins University researchers followed more than 6,200 men and women, age 44-84, from white, African-American, Hispanic, and Chinese backgrounds for an average of more than 7 years. People who exercised regularly, ate a Mediterranean-style diet, kept a normal weight, and did not smoke had an 80 percent lower death rate over the study’s time period compared to participants with none of the healthy behaviors. Roger Blumenthal, M.D., a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, director of the Ciccarone Center, president of the American Heart Association’s Maryland affiliate, and senior author of the study says the findings “bolster recent recommendations by the American Heart Association, which call for maintaining a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains and fish, keeping a BMI of less than 25, being physically active and not smoking.”
American Journal of Epidemiology. Epub 2013 June 10. [Ahmed, et al.]

The Mediterranean Diet is well-studied for its role in preventing dementia, but researchers wonder if a diet rooted in Asian culinary traditions might also be effective. Researchers analyzed the eating habits of 1,006 elderly Japanese adults and monitored them for any signs of dementia. Those eating a diet with lots of soy, vegetables, algae, and dairy, which the researchers note is “roughly correspondent to a customary Japanese diet,” were 44% less likely to develop all-cause dementia, 35% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, and 55% less likely to develop vascular dementia.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2013 May;97(5):1076-82. (Ozawa M et al.)

A group of investigators from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago conducted a study among participants of the Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP) into the relationship between the Mediterranean diet and depression among older adults. They found that in this large, biracial community greater adherence to a Mediterranean pattern of eating including vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish and legumes, was associated with a decreased likelihood of developing depressive symptoms over time. The link between the Mediterranean diet and mental health may be found in a number of dietary components of the diet like B-vitamins, antioxidant nutrients, and fat components.

The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging. 2013; 17(5):441-445. (Skarupski et al.)

A group of investigators in Europe looked at the relationship between risk for colorectal cancer and adherence to the Mediterranean Diet in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) and Nutrition study. For the EPIC study about 520,000 apparently healthy people were recruited from 1993-2000 in 23 research centers in 10 European countries. After an average follow-up of around 11 years the researchers found evidence that suggests that adherence to a Mediterranean Diet is associated with moderately reduced risk of colorectal cancer.

European Journal of Epidemiology. 2013;(28:317-328. (Bami et al.)