Green med diet halves non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by half – Ben-Gurion U study.

BEER-SHEVA, Israel … January 18, 2021 – Mediterranean green diet (MED) reduces intrahepatic fat more than other healthy diets and cuts non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in half , according to long-term clinical intervention. experiment led by researchers of the Ben-Gurion University of Negev and a team of international colleagues.

The results were published in Gut, a leading international journal focusing on gastroenterology and hepatology.

“Our research team and other organizations over the past 20 years have proven through rigorous randomized trials that the Mediterranean diet is the healthiest,” said lead researcher Dr. Iris Shai, an epidemiologist in the BGU School of Public Health who is also an adjunct lecturer at the Harvard School of Public Health TH Chan. “Now, we’ve updated that diet and found elements that can make dramatic changes in hepatic fat and other key health factors.” Other Harvard researchers are Profs. Meir Stampfer and Frank Hu, chair of the Nutrition Department at Chan School.

NAFLD affects 25% to 30% of people in the United States and Europe. While there is a small amount of normal fat in the liver, too much fat (5% or higher) leads to insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular risk, as well as a variety of gut microbes and measles. -microbial balance. Since no drug is currently available for the treatment of fatty liver, the only intervention is weight loss and reduction of alcohol consumption.

This nutritional MRI clinical trial (known as Direct-Plus), led by an international research team led by Professor Shai is the first to develop and test a new Green- terrestrial. This modified MED diet is full of vegetables, including walnuts (28 grams) per day, and less processed and red meat. It is enriched with green ingredients, high in polyphenols, contains three to four cups of green tea / day and 100 grams (frozen cubes / day) of Mankai green tea. Mankai, an aquatic green plant also known as duck, is high in bioavailable proteins, iron, B12, vitamins, minerals, and polyphenols.

“Treating this common liver disease with a targeted lifestyle intervention may lead to a more effective nutrition strategy,” says Dr. Anat Yaskolka-Meir, first author and member of the BGU School of Public Health. “This clinical trial demonstrates an effective nutritional tool for NAFLD beyond weight loss.”

This 18-month DIRECT-PLUS trial began in 2017 at the Negev Nuclear Research Center in Dimona, Israel, when 294 employees in their fifties with abdominal obesity were randomly divided into three groups: diet regimen healthy, Mediterranean diet and Mediterranean green diet. In addition to the diet, all participants were provided with a physical exercise schedule with free gym membership. Participants underwent MRI scans to measure the true proportion of excess intrahepatic fat before and after the test.

The results showed that there was a reduction in fat in all diets. However, the MED green diet provided the greatest reduction in hepatic fat (3939%), compared to the traditional Mediterranean diet (2020%) and the healthy diet guideline (1212%). The results were important after adjusting for weight loss.

Overall, the MED green diet resulted in significant reductions in fatty liver. NAFLD frequency fell from 62% at baseline to 31.5% in the Mediterranean green group, down to 47.9% in the Mediterranean group and 54.8% in the healthy diet regimen group.

In particular, Mankai and walnut had less association with less red meat / processing with IHF loss rate, after controlling for other variables. Plasma polyphenol levels were significantly higher at all MED groups. More specific polyphenols, found in walnuts and Mankai, were found in the green MED group. The researchers consider the effects of polyphenols and the reduction in red meat plays a role in the reduction of liver fat.

###

The research team included: BGU researchers Ehud Rinott, B.Sc .; Gal Tsaban, MD, MPH; Hila Zelicha, RD, MPH; Alon Kaplan, B.Sc .; Philip Rosen, Ph.D. Soroka University Medical Center researchers: Aryeh Shalev, MD and Ilan Shelef, Harvard MD University researchers: Frank B. Hu, MD, Ph.D. and Meir J. Stampfer MD Other researchers: Ilan Youngster, MD, M. MSc. of Assaf Harofeh Medical Center; Matthias Blüher MD, Ph.D., Uta Ceglarek Ph.D. and Michael Stumvoll MD, Ph.D. University of Leipzig; Kieran Tuohy, Ph.D .; Camilla Diotallevi, MSc and Urska Vrhovsek, Ph.D., of the Fondazione Edmund Mach.

This work was funded by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – Project number 209933838 – SFB1052 Collaborative Research Center “Obesity Mechanisms” to Professor Shai (SFB-1052 / B11); Israeli Ministry of Health Grant 87472511 to Professor Shai; Israel Ministry of Science and Technology 3-13604 Grant to Professor Shai; California Walnuts Commission to Professor Shai and the “Cabala Diet & Health” Project funded by EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation grant agreement No. 696295 – ERAHDHL ERA-Net Cofund “Biomarkers for Nutrition and Health in action JPI HDHL targets “FEM-assisted polyphenol analyzes (to K Tuohy).

About American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in upholding the vision of David Ben-Gurion: creating a world-class educational and research institute in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and share the University’s knowledge locally. and worldwide. Activities include showcasing BGU’s academic excellence and advanced research through educational programs, events and informative communication. The main purpose of AABGU is to support the vision of Ben-Gurion and the name-bearing university by creating a community of Americans committed to improving the world tomorrow from the deserted heart of Israel today . For more information, visit http: // www.aabgu.org.