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Misleading “Mediterranean Diet” Headline at the Washington Post

Perhaps you read the December 17, 2008, Washington Post (online) article, “Mediterranean-Style Diet Best for Blood Sugar Control.”

The same headline was used by MedlinePlus: Trusted Health Information for You, a service of the U.S. government. The two articles may be exactly the same.

A physician spokeswoman for the American Heart Association is quoted in the story saying that “…the best diet is a Mediterranean-type diet…”

I mention this only because the Canadian study to which she refers is not a test of the Mediterranean diet in people with diabetes.

[Did you know that some people with diabetes are offended if you call them “diabetics”? To call them diabetics defines them by their disease. They’re not diseases, they’re individual humans.]

There are certainly some studies indicating that the traditional Mediterranean diet may be a good one for people with diabetes, and that the Mediterranean diet can prevent type 2 diabetes, but this Canadian study is not one of them.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Reference: Jenkins, David, et al. Effect of a Low-Glycemic Index or High-Cereal Fiber Diet on Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 300 (2008): 2,742-2,753.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 at 11:45 am and is filed under Diabetes Mellitus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “Misleading “Mediterranean Diet” Headline at the Washington Post”

James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H. Says:
December 17th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Thanks for clearing that up, Dr. Parker. Also good to know about the term “diabetic”.
Steve Parker, M.D. Says:
December 19th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Yeah, author and type 1 “person with diabetes” James Hirsch taught me that, and the forum at the American Diabetes Association website confirmed it.

The majority of diabetics, however, don’t object to the term.

-Steve