Southern Style Mediterranean Diet Helps People Lose About 10 Pounds in Two Year Trial

The Med-South diet, a Mediterranean-style diet tailored to known foods of the American South, has had promising findings from a 2-year weight-loss trial. investigators found that participants adhering to the Med-South diet lost approximately 4.

5kg (about 10 lbs), with an average weight loss over 24 months comparable to that of those using WeightWatchers with a A lot greater increase in diet quality.

This research is from the DELISH randomized clinical trial that was published in JAMA Network Open in August 2026. Instead of asking individuals to give up familiar foods, the Med-South approach was built upon a Mediterranean diet yet was tailored to fit foods and eating patterns typical of the southern US.

The focus was on eating foods like fruits and vegetables nuts fish, healthy vegetable oils and other sources of unsaturated fats. Patients were advised to eat at least seven servings of fruits and vegetables a day, eat beans and nuts regularly, have fish at least once a week and eat poultry most of the time.

The authors also used foods to which Southerners were accustomed.

Eat more peanuts and peanut butter, eat more collard greens, and “even prepare barbecue and hushpuppies so they will be low in fat” would seem more doable than following a strange menu.

Participants were also advised to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages desserts baked goods and red meat / processed meats.

An emphasis was placed on the inclusion of healthy fats in the form of nuts, oily fish avocado oils, full-fat dressing.

The people in both the Med-South and WeightWatchers groups had lost, and kept off, an average of 4.49 kg after 2 years and the researchers did not find an statistical significant difference between the two methods in the amount lost or in the blood pressure levels.

The significance of that finding is that the study was not straightforwardly comparing the effect of a Mediteranean-style diet on weight reduction.

The study was contrasting two totally different methods to getting to the same point. Compared to Med-South, WeightWatchers’ approach focuses on reducing calories and behavioral strategies more, while the Med-South intervention focused more on the nutritional quality of the food being consumed.

While both groups lost comparable amounts of weight; the researchers noted a more distinctly separated image of quality of diet. Participants in the Med-South diet reported much higher intakes of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats and lower carbohydrate intakes.

Their scores on measures of overall diet quality improved more markedly. Researchers also utilized a Veggie Meter, a device that gives an estimate of fruit and vegetable intake based on levels of carotenoids in the skin.

Both groups improved, but the Med-South group experienced a more significant improvement in dietary intake. This differentiation could have very significant implications for long-term health.

While losing weight is one of the aims of a dietary change, the nutrient density of the foods in the diet which are responsible for that weight loss may also have an impact on cardiovascular and metabolic health.