Mediterranean-Style Diet Improves Systolic Blood Pressure and Arterial Stiffness in Older Adults: Results of a 1-Year European Multi-Center Trial
Open accessAbstract
We aimed to determine the effect of a Mediterranean-style diet, tailored to meet dietary recommendations for older adults, on blood pressure and arterial stiffness. In 12 months, randomized controlled trial (NU-AGE [New Dietary Strategies Addressing the Specific Needs of Elderly Population for Healthy Aging in Europe]), blood pressure was measured in 1294 healthy participants, aged 65 to 79 years, recruited from 5 European centers, and arterial stiffness in a subset of 225 participants. The intervention group received individually tailored standardized dietary advice and commercially available foods to increase adherence to a Mediterranean diet. The control group continued on their habitual diet and was provided with current national dietary guidance. In the 1142 participants who completed the trial (88.2%), after 1 year the intervention resulted in a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure (-5.5 mm Hg; 95% CI, -10.7 to -0.4; P=0.03), which was evident in males (-9.2 mm Hg, P=0.02) but not females (-3.1 mm Hg, P=0.37). The -1.7 mm Hg (95% CI, -4.3 to 0.9) decrease in diastolic pressure after intervention did not reach statistical significance. In a subset (n=225), augmentation index, a measure of arterial stiffness, was improved following intervention (-12.4; 95% CI, -24.4 to -0.5; P=0.04) with no change in pulse wave velocity. The intervention also resulted in an increase in 24-hour urinary potassium (8.8 mmol/L; 95% CI, 0.7-16.9; P=0.03) and in male participants (52%) a reduction in pulse pressure (-6.1 mm Hg; 95% CI, -12.0 to -0.2; P=0.04) and 24-hour urinary sodium (-27.1 mmol/L; 95% CI, -53.3 to -1.0; P=0.04). In conclusion, a Mediterranean-style diet is effective in improving cardiovascular health with clinically relevant reductions in blood pressure and arterial stiffness. Clinical Trial Registration- URL: http://www.clinicialtrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT01754012.
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The NU-AGE study found no difference in DBP following nutritional intervention.
“Congruous with the observation that in older adults SBP is a more robust CVD risk factor than DBP, and that aging is associated with structural and functional changes in the vascular wall that increase arterial stiffness and SBP, the NU-AGE study found no difference in DPB, following nutritional intervention [39].”
From Mediterranean diet nutrients to turn the tide against insulin resistance and related diseases (2020) · cites this paper as [39]
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References 33 · Cited by 172
- Authors
- Jennings, A., Berendsen, A. M., de Groot, L. C. P. G. M., Feskens, E. J. M., Brzozowska, A., Sicinska, E., Pietruszka, B., Meunier, N., Caumon, E., Malpuech-Brugère, C., Santoro, A., Ostan, R., Franceschi, C., Gillings, R., O’ Neill, C. M., Fairweather-Tait, S. J., Minihane, A.-M., & Cassidy, A.
- Affiliations
- University of East Anglia (GB)
- Wageningen University & Research (NL)
- Department of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, The Netherlands (A.M.B., L.C.P.G.M.d.G., E.J.M.F.)
- Warsaw University of Life Sciences (PL)
- Department of Human Nutrition, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, Poland (A.B., E.S., B.P.)
- Centre de Recherche en Nutrition Humaine d'Auvergne (FR)
- Université Clermont Auvergne, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Unité de Nutrition Humaine (C.M.-B.), Centre de Recherches en Nutrition Humaine (CRNH) d’Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
- University of Bologna (IT)
- From the Department of Nutrition and Preventive Medicine, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom (A.J., R.G., C.M.O., S.J.F.-T., A.-M.M., A.C.)
- Corresponding author
- Cassidy, Aedín
- ORCID
- Venue
- Hypertension
- Published
- 2019-03
- Volume
- 73
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 578-586
- ISSN
- 0194-911X (ISSN-L)
- 1524-4563
- PMC
- PMC6380440
- OpenAlex
- W2908760184
- Cited by
- 172
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 2
- FWCI
- 19.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Hypertension (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- HAL (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- UEA Digital Repository (University of East Anglia) (submittedVersion)
- Archivio istituzionale della ricerca (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Portal (Queen's University Belfast) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/J004545/1)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiovascular Health and Disease Prevention
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Sodium Intake and Health
- Keywords
- Mediterranean diet, systolic blood pressure, arterial stiffness, older adults, dietary intervention, augmentation index, pulse wave velocity, urinary sodium, urinary potassium, pulse pressure, hypertension prevention, healthy aging, sex differences, cardiovascular health, dietary adherence
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Blood Pressure, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Hypertension, Male, Retrospective Studies, Systole, Time Factors, Treatment Outcome, Diet, Mediterranean, Vascular Stiffness, Pulse Wave Analysis
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