The Impact of the Hypercaloric Diet versus the Mediterranean Diet on Insulin Sensitivity

Florentina Ioniţă Radu^{1, 2}, Aurelian E. Ranetti^{3, 4,*}, Titus M. Vasile⁵, Any Axelerad⁷, Anca M. Sirbu⁴, Carmen A. Sîrbu^{8, 9, 10}

1 - Gastroenterology Clinic, “Carol Davila” Central Military Emergency University Hospital, Bucharest, Romania
2 - Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
3 - Department of Endocrinology, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
4 - Endocrinology Clinic, “Carol Davila” Central Military Emergency University Hospital, Bucharest, Romania
5 - Clinical Neurosciences Department, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
6 - NovaLife Clinics, Bucharest, Romania
7 - Department of Neurology, General Medicine Faculty, “Ovidius”’ University, Constanta, Romania
8 - Neurology Clinic, “Dr. Carol Davila” Central Military Emergency University Hospital, Bucharest, Romania
9 - Centre for Cognitive Research in Neuropsychiatric Pathology (Neuropsy-Cog), Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine
10 - Clinical Neurosciences Department, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania

Correspondence: Aurelian E. Ranetti, aurelian.ranetti@umfcd.ro

DOI: https://doi.org/10.55453/rjmm.2023.126.3.6

Received: September 23, 2022

Accepted: January 21, 2023

Abstract:

Obesity affects the population worldwide. A hypercaloric diet associated with a sedentary life, stress, and genetic background, triggers various metabolic disorders, such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and cognitive impairment. A healthy diet correlated with physical activity, not smoking, and moderate alcohol consumption reduces the risk of developing metabolic diseases. The Mediterranean diet contains antioxidants, fiber, polyunsaturated fats, and compounds with anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-obesity properties. In a wide variety of species including humans, the reduction of calories between 20-40% significantly improves health, increases longevity, and delays the development of various pathologies. The main aim of this review is to present the comparative effects of the Mediterranean diet versus the hypercaloric diet on insulin sensitivity.