Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet for Men
Diet can impact cancer risk and erectile dysfunction.
A duo of research reports suggests that it can be a good idea for men to get on board with the much-vaunted Mediterranean diet.
- Men ages 40–70 who had higher compliance to the Mediterranean diet—which is high in vegetables, fruits, nuts, fish and unsaturated fats, but moderate in meats and whole-fat dairy foods—had a decreased incidence of erectile dysfunction, compared with those with lower compliance to this eating pattern. The findings published in JAMA Network Open were based on data from 21,469 men enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. It’s worth noting that erectile dysfunction can be a warning sign for cardiovascular disease.
- A study in Cancer found that higher adherence to the Med diet was tied to a reduced risk for grade progression of prostate cancer among adult men, compared with lower adherence to the diet. Each one-unit increase in Mediterranean diet score was linked to a more than 10% decreased risk for prostate cancer progression for all men. The foods that make up the Med diet may have anti-inflammatory and chemopreventive powers.
See also: More Praise for the Med Diet
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD, is a James Beard Award–winning food journalist, dietitian and author of the cookbook Rocket Fuel: Power-Packed Food for Sport + Adventure (VeloPress 2016). He has written for dozens of magazines, including Runner’s World, Men’s Health, Shape, Men’s Fitness and Muscle and Fitness.
