{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,26]],"date-time":"2026-03-26T07:28:28Z","timestamp":1774510108847,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":84,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,24]],"date-time":"2026-03-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1774310400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100019349","name":"Universidad T\u00e9cnica Particular de Loja","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["PROY_PROY_ARTIC_CS_2022_3676"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PROY_PROY_ARTIC_CS_2022_3676"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100019349","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objective: To evaluate the association between adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) in an urban Ecuadorian population, with emphasis on the protective role of specific dietary components and body composition. Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted with 1373 adults aged 18\u201375 years. Adherence to the MedDiet was assessed using the 14-item Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS-14), while T2D risk was estimated using the Finnish Diabetes Risk Scale (FINDRISC). Anthropometric and body composition parameters were measured using standardized procedures. Adjusted associations between exposure variables and T2D risk were estimated using Poisson regression with robust variance, and prevalence ratios were calculated after controlling for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Results: Most participants showed low adherence to the MedDiet (85.2%), which was significantly associated with higher T2D risk. Multivariate analysis of individual dietary components showed relevant associations. Regular consumption of sofrito was associated with lower T2D risk (PR = 0.817; 95% CI: 0.682\u20130.979; p = 0.028). Similarly, low fruit consumption was associated with a substantially higher T2D risk (PR = 1.350; 95% CI: 1.146\u20131.589; p = 0.001). In addition, higher body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) were consistently related to greater T2D risk. Conclusions: Greater adherence to the MedDiet, particularly consumption of key components such as sofrito and fruits, was associated with lower T2D risk. These findings highlight the importance of preventive lifestyle interventions adapted to the Latin American context.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18071024","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,24]],"date-time":"2026-03-24T12:58:59Z","timestamp":1774357139000},"page":"1024","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Sofrito and Fruit Consumption Associated with Lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in an Urban Latin American Cohort"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2368-3663","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paula","family":"Calder\u00f3n","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Carrera de Nutrici\u00f3n y Diet\u00e9tica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad T\u00e9cnica Particular de Loja, Loja 110107, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-6785-2969","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luisa","family":"Villamagua-Godoy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Carrera de Nutrici\u00f3n y Diet\u00e9tica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad T\u00e9cnica Particular de Loja, Loja 110107, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8844-6941","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ver\u00f3nica","family":"C\u00e1rdenas-Maz\u00f3n","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Carrera de Nutrici\u00f3n y Diet\u00e9tica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad T\u00e9cnica Particular de Loja, Loja 110107, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9550-2772","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martha","family":"Montalv\u00e1n","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Cat\u00f3lica de Santiago de Guayaquil, Av. Pdte. Carlos Julio Arosemena Tola, Guayaquil 090615, Ecuador"},{"name":"Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de Guayaquil, Avenida 10 NO, Guayaquil 090613, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0419-030X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rosario","family":"Su\u00e1rez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Carrera de Medicina, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad T\u00e9cnica Particular de Loja, Loja 110107, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8083-1714","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sebasti\u00e1n","family":"Chapela","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Bioqu\u00edmica Humana, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires 1113, Argentina"},{"name":"Equipo de Soporte Nutricional, Hospital Brit\u00e1nico de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires 1280, Argentina"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6012-3403","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Estefan\u00eda","family":"Bautista-Valarezo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Carrera de Medicina, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad T\u00e9cnica Particular de Loja, Loja 110107, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2228-0141","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Evelyn","family":"Frias-Toral","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Esp\u00edritu Santo, Samborond\u00f3n 092301, Ecuador"},{"name":"Division of Research, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"34","DOI":"10.1111\/1753-0407.13236","article-title":"Relationships between type 2 diabetes, cell dysfunction, and redox signaling: A meta-analysis of single-cell gene expression of human pancreatic \u03b1- and \u03b2-cells","volume":"14","author":"Marques","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. 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