Combined Impact of the Mediterranean Diet and Physical Activity on the Nutritional Status Formation

The Mediterranean diet is one of the scientifically based types of nutrition aimed at maintaining health and active longevity. The diet implies high consumption of unsaturated fats, cereals, fresh fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products, and involves moderate physical activity. The research aims at studying the influence of the Mediterranean diet combining with physical activity on the nutritional status indicators of the adult population. The experiment involved 13 people aged 34 to 55 years (12 women and 1 man) with nutritional disorders. Developed recommendations were based on the catering using the Mediterranean diet principles. A man divided the group into two parts: during the study 7 people did physical activity (strength and aerobic exercises of medium and low intensity) besides following the nutrition recommendations; 6 people followed only the nutritional advice. The researchers specified the Mediterranean diet and physical activity impact on the nutritional status of the experimental subjects using two biomarkers groups: anthropometric indicators (waist circumference, body weight, body mass index) and biochemical blood parameters (fasting glucose, total cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins, high-density lipoproteins). Based on a comprehensive assessment of nutritional status, a man revealed the positive Mediterranean diet impact on health indicators. Every subject in the experiment demonstrated an improvement in one or more nutritional status indicators. At the same time, combining diet and physical activity determined more significant positive changes: in the experiment three subjects from this category had their nutritional status indicators normalized completely.