Overweight people who develop the Metabolic Syndrome are at much greater risk for dangerous physical problems, including diabetes and heart disease.

I'm Dr. Caroline Cederquist, giving you The Skinny on Your Health.

I've had a lot of success reversing the metabolic syndrome through dietary means, without having to resort to medications. And I'm not the only one. Researchers in Italy did a study on people the Metabolic Syndrome to see how their condition might be affected by the Mediterranean diet.

They divided the subjects into two groups and put them both on diets with roughly the same amounts of total fat, protein, carbohydrate and alcohol. But patients on the intervention group drew their nutrient components from the traditional Mediterranean diet of fresh fruit, beans, nuts, olive oil, vegetables and fish.

The Mediterranean diet - even though it wasn't lower fat or lower calorie - actually produced greater weight loss and better reductions in blood pressure and cholesterol.

That kind of low-effort health improvement makes you think seriously about going Mediterranean.

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Caroline J. Cederquist, M.D. is a board certified Family Physician and a board certified Bariatric Physicians (the medical specialty of weight management). Dr. Cederquist is the founder of Bistro M.D., a home diet delivery program that specializes in low calorie gourmet food that is delivered to your home or office. Bistro M.D. serves as culmination of Dr. Cederquist's expertise and experience in the world of medical weight loss.