Mediterranean Diet and health

Abstract

The Mediterranean Diet concept was proposed and developed by Keys and Grande in the fifties referring to dietary habits observed in the Mediterranean regions. The first study that observed a protective effect of the Mediterranean Diet or of some of its components was the Seven Countries Study which found a strong inverse association between monounsaturated fatty acids intake (main source of fat from olive oil, essential component of the Mediterranean Diet) and overall mortality and specifically mortality due to coronary heart disease and cancer. Similarly, a recent cohort study reported a significant decrease in total mortality, and in mortality due to cardiovascular disease and cancer among those subjects with a higher adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern defined as that composed by a high consumption of fruits, nuts, vegetables, legumes, cereals, and fish, a high ratio monounsaturated/saturated fatty acids, a low consumption of meat and dairy and a moderate intake of alcohol Moreover, two trials (Indo-Mediterranean trial and Lyon Trial) have found a surprising decrease in the risk of re-infarction after the adoption of a diet similar to the Mediterranean Diet. The joint analysis of three case-control studies reported a beneficial and significant effect of the adherence to a Mediterranean Diet on cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract (oral and pharyngeal, oesophageal, and laryngeal cancer). Moreover, the protective role of this pattern or different components on diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoporosis, cognitive decline and some types of dementia such as Alzheimer has been also suggested.