In a new study, researchers found that the Mediterranean diet may help stop overeating.
This finding may help develop new methods to help people have healthy eating habits and control body weight.
The research was conducted by scientists at Wake Forest School of Medicine.
In the study, the team did a 38-month (equivalent to about 9 years for humans) prevention trial.
The diets were close to human diets with protein and fat from animal sources in the Western diet and from plant sources in the Mediterranean diet.
The two diets had comparable proportions of fat, protein, and carbs.
There were 38 middle-aged females eating either the Mediterranean or Western diet.
The researchers found that nonhuman primates on a Mediterranean diet chose not to eat all the food available to them and maintained a normal weight.
On the contrary, animals on a Western diet ate far more than they needed and gained weight.
The group on the Mediterranean diet ate fewer calories, had lower body weight and had less body fat than the group on the Western diet.
The finding suggests that a Mediterranean diet may help prevent overeating, obesity, and pre-diabetes compared with a Western diet.
The researchers suggest that the Mediterranean diet may also protect against non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, known as NAFLD.
This is because the diet composition in the Mediterranean diet could help reduce obesity and liver fat.
In addition, eating a Mediterranean diet can allow people to enjoy their food and not overeat.
This is the first study to measure the effects of a Western versus Mediterranean diet on obesity-related diseases.
The lead author of the study is Carol A. Shively, Ph.D., professor of pathology at Wake Forest School of Medicine.
The study is published in the journal Obesity.
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