Nutraceutical supplementation and a calorie-restricted Mediterranean diet can improve biomarkers for longevity

Researchers from the U.S. conducted an observational study to confirm the safety, tolerability and efficacy of a calorie-restricted Mediterranean diet with targeted dietary supplementation (PROG1). Their findings were published in the Journal of Medicinal Food.

• Among the comorbidities of high body mass index, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death and disability around the world, followed by Type 2 diabetes.
• For their study, the researchers assigned a modified Mediterranean diet which included protein shakes and targeted supplementation (PROG2) to 50 overweight and obese subjects with cardiometabolic risk factors. This diet provided about 68 to 76 percent of each participant’s estimated calorie requirement.
• The researchers assessed the participants’ salivary nitrite weekly and recorded key cardiometabolic metrics at baseline and on weeks nine and 13.
• The researchers reported that PROG2 was well-tolerated with 86 percent compliance. The most common adverse effects were bloating, flatulence and constipation.
• The diet successfully decreased the following:
  • Body weight by 12 percent
  • Body fat by 18 percent
  • Waist circumference by 8.8 percent
  • Total cholesterol (TC) by 19 percent
  • Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol by 22 percent
  • Triglycerides (TG) by 40 percent
  • Ratio of TC/high-density liproprotein (HDL) by 15 percent
  • Ratio of TG/HDL by 35 percent
  • Ratio of oxidized LDL/HDL by 13 percent
  • Oxidized LDL by 17 percent
  • High-sensitivity C-reactive protein by 30 percent
• In terms of blood pressure, the participants experienced a nine percent reduction in systolic blood pressure and 12 percent for diastolic blood pressure.
• In concert, the diet increased the nitrogen dioxide salivary biomarker for nitric acid relative to baseline.
• It also dramatically reduced the number of participants who meet the cardiometabolic syndrome criteria by 50 percent, and the Framingham 10-year cardiovascular risk by 38 percent.

Based on these results, the researchers concluded that the addition of targeted nutraceutical supplementation to a calorie-restricted Mediterranean diet with lifestyle modifications can improve multiple longevity risk factors more effectively than diet and lifestyle modification alone.

Journal Reference:

Tripp ML, Dahlberg CJ, Eliason S, Lamb JJ, Ou JJ, Gao W, Bhandari J, Graham D, Dudleenamjil E, Babish JG. A LOW-GLYCEMIC, MEDITERRANEAN DIET AND LIFESTYLE MODIFICATION PROGRAM WITH TARGETED NUTRACEUTICALS REDUCES BODY WEIGHT, IMPROVES CARDIOMETABOLIC VARIABLES AND LONGEVITY BIOMARKERS IN OVERWEIGHT SUBJECTS: A 13-WEEK OBSERVATIONAL TRIAL. Journal of Medicinal Food. 14 May 2019;22(5):479–489. DOI: 10.1089/jmf.2018.0063