Research

Macro partitioning

Adherence to a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) significantly reduces the incidence of type 2 diabetes in high cardiovascular risk individuals, independent of weight loss or energy restriction.

If you are at high risk for heart disease or diabetes, switch to a Mediterranean diet pattern and add about 4-5 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil daily. You do not need to restrict your total calorie intake or lose weight to see a significant reduction in your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The key is the quality of fats and the overall dietary pattern, not caloric deficit.

WeakSupportsHIGH confidence
A Mediterranean diet enriched with EVOO but without energy restrictions reduced diabetes risk among persons with high cardiovascular risk.
Jordi Salas‐Salvadó et al. · Annals of Internal Medicine · 2014

Why this rating

Randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a large sample size (n=3541) and long follow-up (median 4.1 years).

Source

Prevention of Diabetes With Mediterranean Diets

Jordi Salas‐Salvadó et al. · Annals of Internal Medicine · 2014

DOI 10.7326/m13-1725

rct · n=3541Cited 642×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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