Participants who followed a Mediterranean-style plan tailored for the Southeast not only kept weight off but also ate better in ways that may help prevent chronic disease.
Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and collaborating institutions have shown that a Mediterranean-style eating pattern adapted for people living in the Southeast can improve diet quality and support weight loss.
The study, called DELISH (Delicious Eating for Life in Southern Homes), evaluated a "Med-South" dietary pattern that emphasizes nuts, vegetable oils, whole grains, nonstarchy vegetables and fruit and is tailored to regional food preferences and availability. Results from the trial are published in JAMA Network Open.
Study leadership and design
The research team was led by co-principal investigators Thomas Keyserling, MD, MPH, professor of medicine in the Division of General Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology at the UNC School of Medicine, and Carmen Samuel-Hodge, Ph.D., RD, research professor in the Department of Nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and director of the Evaluation Core for the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (HPDP). HPDP, where both Keyserling and Samuel-Hodge are fellows, served as the administrative home for the study.
