Effects of Long-Versus Short-Term Exposure to the Mediterranean Diet on Skin Microvascular Function and Quality of Life of Healthy Adults in Greece and the UK

KLONIZAKIS, Markos, GRAMMATIKOPOULOU, Maria G., THEODORIDIS, Xenophon, MILNER, Marianne, LIU, Yingshan and CHOURDAKIS, Michael (2019). Effects of Long-Versus Short-Term Exposure to the Mediterranean Diet on Skin Microvascular Function and Quality of Life of Healthy Adults in Greece and the UK. Nutrients, 11 (10), e2487.

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Official URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/10/2487
Open Access URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/10/2487/pdf
Link to published version:: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11102487

Abstract

The beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet (MD) adherence in reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and improving CVD-related physiological indices have been well-documented. However, the exact MD adherence duration needed for these effects to occur is under-researched. The aim of the present, two-arm, two-site study clinical trial was to assess the effects of long- vs. short-term MD adherence on the skin microvascular circulation, and quality of life. Two groups were recruited, one being long-term MD adherers (>5 years; from Greece; control group), and one of the non-adherers (from the UK), with the latter participating in a four-week MD intervention (intervention group). Our main outcome was skin microvascular function assessed by cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC). Secondary outcomes included quality of life, dietary intake, blood pressure and lipidemic profile. At the end of the intervention, both groups had high MD adherence. For the intervention group, significantly improved post-intervention CVC values were noted concerning the initial peak phase (2.0 ± 0.6 vs. 2.8 ± 0.8; p 0.05). CVC values of the control group, were however higher at the plateau phase in comparison to the intervention group (intervention end; 3.8 ± 0.8 vs. 3.1 ± 1.2; p 0.05). As per QoL, the physical domain was improved post-intervention (13.7 ± 1.2 vs. 15.9 ± 1.2; p 0.05). No differences were observed in the lipidemic profile between groups, or between the baseline and final intervention phases. The findings indicate that although short-term MD adherence is effective in improving certain microvascular physiological properties and QoL domains, there is room for additional improvement, observed in long-term adherers. Our findings are important in the design of future, MD-based, lifestyle interventions, with the advisable durations differing between target groups.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: ** From MDPI via Jisc Publications Router ** Licence for this article: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ **Journal IDs: eissn 2072-6643 **History: published 16-10-2019; accepted 15-10-2019
Uncontrolled Keywords: Mediterranean diet, microcirculation, quality of life, cardiovascular disease, dietary intervention, nutrition therapy, clinical trial
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11102487
Page Range: e2487
SWORD Depositor: Helen Garner
Depositing User: Helen Garner
Date Deposited: 28 Oct 2019 15:44
Last Modified: 18 Mar 2021 03:23
URI: https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/25301

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