Mediterranean Diet, Calorie Reduction, and Exercise Cut Diabetes Risk by 31%
A landmark Spanish clinical trial, PREDIMED-Plus, just release their results in August 2025. It found that combining a Mediterranean-style diet with fewer calories, moderate exercise, and professional weight-loss support reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 31%.
The trial, the largest nutrition study ever in Europe (4,746 people aged 55 to 75 years) began in 2013 and involved over 100 primary care centers, 22 universities, hospitals, and research centers, and more than 200 researchers.
To see if an optimized Mediterranean diet could better prevent type 2 diabetes, researchers compared two groups. One group followed a calorie-reduced Mediterranean diet (around 600 kcal fewer per day), combined with a moderate exercise program including brisk walking, strength, and balance training, along with professional guidance for weight management. The comparison group followed a traditional Mediterranean diet without calorie restriction or exercise advice.
The intervention group not only lowered their risk of type 2 diabetes but also lost an average of 3.3 kg and reduced waist circumference by 3.6 cm, compared with just 0.6 kg and 0.3 cm in the control group. Note, the focus of the trial was on sustainable, long-term lifestyle changes, not rapid weight loss.
Practically, this translated to preventing about three out of every 100 participants from developing type 2 diabetes, demonstrating a meaningful public health impact. The study highlights that modest, sustained lifestyle changes can prevent thousands of diabetes cases worldwide.
