Exploring the short-term, physiological, micro-circulatory effects of regional diets in sedentary, older, adult populations [Abstract only]

Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is the biggest preventable cause of mortality in the Western world. Lifestyle interventions based on the Mediterranean (MD) and New Nordic (NND) diets have been proposed to provide cardiovascular benefits in clinical and healthy-but-at- risk populations. Although the benefits are undeniable, it is not known as of whether their physiological effects are greater in the long-term to those observed following a short-term consumption. This is important, as such knowledge will influence clinical recommendations and public health planning involving regional diets, as it will determine their optimal implementation duration. It will also help determining as of whether there are limitations to the benefits offered by them alone and if additional lifestyle arms (e.g., exercise, sedentary behaviour reduction etc.), would be necessary to achieve a greater CVD risk-reduction target. Therefore, we explored the physiological, microcirculatory effects of MD and NND diets, following a 4- week implementation period, in sedentary, older, adult populations. We conducted a series of studies, involving the consumption of the MD and NND in previously unaccustomed, sedentary populations. We observed a statistically-significant, short-term improvement on axon-mediated microvascular vasodilation and endothelial- mediated nitric oxide synthesis, following the consumption of NND, but not with MD. Our findings suggest that different regional diets offer physiological benefits at different timelines. Therefore, clinicians and policy-makers should not recommend identical durations when making dietary prescriptions. Further work is required to identify the optimal implementation periods for different age and clinical groups, as expectations in physiological improvement differ.