Researchers saw a reduction in peripheral artery disease risk associated with a Mediterranean-style diet.
Staples of the Mediterranean diet include extra-virgin olive oil and nuts. In the past the diet has been reported to help lower instances of heart attack and stroke, a JAMA Network Journals news release reported.
This randomized trial was the first to study the relationship between the diet and peripheral artery disease (PAD).
PAD is a "common circulatory problem in which narrowed arteries reduce blood flow to [the] limbs," MayoClinic reported.
The participants were required to be between the ages of 55 and 80 years old if male and between 60 and 80 if female. The study looked at 7,477 who were 58 percent female and had an average age of 67.
None of the participants had been diagnosed with a "baseline cardiovascular disease" or PAD, but all had at least three risk factors for the conditions or type 2 diabetes mellitus.
The study subjects were split into three groups: one consumed a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil; the next ate a Mediterranean diet supplemented with nuts; and the last was the control group, who consumed a low-fat diet.
All of the subjects also participated in a "comprehensive dietary educational program."
Over the course of the study (which took place between October 2003 and December 2010) there were 89 confirmed cases of PAD within the participant pool as of a 4.8-year mid-point follow-up. Instances of PAD were found to be higher in the control group.
"To our knowledge, this is the first randomized primary prevention trial to suggest an association between a dietary intervention and [reduction in] PAD. These results are consistent with previous observational studies and relevant from a public health perspective," the authors wrote according to the news release.
