A new study has shown evidence that the Mediterranean diet does not only keep your heart healthy but also reduces the risk for hip fractures. Postmenopausal women who follow a Mediterranean diet were less likely to suffer hip fractures compared to women who follow other forms of diet.
The study led by Dr. Bernhard Haring of the University of Wurzburg in Germany analyzed data from 40 clinical centers that were part of the Women's Health Initiative Study in the United States, CNN reports. A total of 90,014 women participated with an average age of 64.
The women reported their dietary patterns which were categorized into four types. After 16 years, they evaluated whether the participants had a hip fracture or not. The study was published online in JAMA International Medicine.
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In a 16-year span, there were 2.121 cases of hip fractures reported, with 28,718 total fractures. Women who closely followed Mediterranean diet which is mostly composed of vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, peas, unrefined grains, olive oil and fish, were found to 0.29 percent less to suffer hip fracture. The other three diets were found to have less or no effect on bone health.
In an email to Live Science, Dr. Haring stated that Mediterranean diet has a positive effect on overall health despite the fact that it has less dairy component. "There is strong evidence that an overall healthy dietary pattern, and specifically a Mediterranean-type diet, provides important health benefits," he stated in the email. "It was important to show that a Mediterranean diet, as well as other dietary patterns, do not increase the rate of hip fractures."
Rather than concentrating on the individual nutrients, the researchers looked at the diet patterns and they found that Mediterranean has lowered the women's risk of hip fracture. Previous research has shown that exercise has also been linked to lower risk for hip fracture, Dr. Walter Willet of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston noted.
He said that it is possible that women who followed Mediterranean diet were also doing a lot of exercises. He recommends that the new study should be taken cautiously.
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