Mediterranean Diet Program Shows No Weight-Loss Edge but Improves Diet Quality

In the DELISH trial, primary care patients with obesity lost similar amounts of weight whether they followed a Mediterranean-style diet program or a control intervention with WeightWatchers, about 3.5% at 24 months. However, the Mediterranean diet group had significantly higher scores on a diet quality index. The authors suggest that for modest weight loss goals, behavioral programs emphasizing diet quality remain a reasonable option.

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The DELISH trial enrolled 360 adults with obesity from one academic and six community primary care practices in central North Carolina, with participants averaging 54.7 years old. Both the Mediterranean-style program and the control arm, which included WeightWatchers access, produced roughly 8.7 to 8.8 pounds of weight loss over two years — below the 5% threshold typically considered clinically meaningful.

The Mediterranean group did achieve significantly better scores on the Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010, a measure of dietary