--- title: Mediterranean Diet: It Also Benefits Your Kidneys description: The Mediterranean Diet is linked to benefits like warding off inflammation and lowering blood pressure, and it's good for your kidneys, too canonical: https://time.com/3549435/mediterranean-diet-kidney-health/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-30T21:40:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:08:13.926Z article:section: Health og:title: Here's Another Reason to Try the Mediterranean Diet og:description: The Mediterranean Diet is linked to benefits like warding off inflammation and lowering blood pressure, and it's good for your kidneys, too og:url: https://time.com/3549435/mediterranean-diet-kidney-health/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt110c0fa824ef3fc7/698760b73c16395edd44f0b8/169160591.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3115 og:image:height: 1752 og:image:alt: Mediterranean diet og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Another Reason to Try the Mediterranean Diet twitter:description: The Mediterranean Diet is linked to benefits like warding off inflammation and lowering blood pressure, and it's good for your kidneys, too twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt110c0fa824ef3fc7/698760b73c16395edd44f0b8/169160591.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Another Reason to Try the Mediterranean Diet > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Oct 30, 2014 9:40 PM UTC  Mediterranean Food. (Photo by: Media for Medical/UIG via Getty Images) Mediterranean Food. (Photo by: Media for Medical/UIG via Getty Images)Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Oct 30, 2014 9:40 PM UTC The Mediterranean diet, high in vegetables, nuts and healthy fats like olive oil, has once again proven itself worthy of our plates. People who maintained a version of the Mediterranean diet had a 50% lower risk of developing chronic kidney disease and a 42% lower risk of rapid kidney function decline, according to a new [study](http://cjasn.asnjournals.org/content/early/2014/10/29/CJN.01080114.abstract) published in the _Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology_. Over about seven years, researchers scored 900 participants’ diets on a scale based on how closely their eating habits resembled the Mediterranean diet. They found that every one-point increase in Mediterranean diet score was linked to a 17% decrease in their likelihood of developing chronic kidney disease—a disease that afflicts around 20 million Americans. Though the researchers are not entirely certain why the Mediterranean diet is successful in warding off kidney disease, they believe it might have to do with the diet’s effects on inflammation in the kidney cells and the lining inside the heart and blood vessels. Past research has shown that the Mediterranean diet has positive effects on inflammation and blood pressure, which in turn benefits the kidneys. The Mediterranean diet has been shown consistently to benefit the body; studies suggest it can keep you[ healthy in old age](http://healthland.time.com/2013/11/04/eat-more-mediterranean-foods-now-your-later-self-will-thank-you/), [ward off memory loss](http://healthland.time.com/2013/05/01/med-diet-and-memory/), [fight diabetes](http://healthland.time.com/2014/01/06/how-the-mediterranean-diet-alone-can-fight-diabetes/), and lower risk of [heart attacks,](http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/25/its-the-olive-oil-mediterranean-diet-lowers-risk-of-heart-attack-and-stroke/) [stroke](http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/16/can-olive-oil-help-prevent-stroke/), and [childhood asthma](http://healthland.time.com/2010/06/03/mediterranean-diet-linked-to-lower-child-asthma-risk/). Of course, no diet is a cure-all, especially if it’s not accompanied by other healthy behaviors like exercising, drinking in moderation, and avoiding smoking. 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