TY - JOUR
T1 - Benefits of the Mediterranean diet
T2 - Epidemiological and molecular aspects
AU - Serra-Majem, L.
AU - Román-Viñas, Blanca
AU - Sanchez-Villegas, Almudena
AU - Guasch-Ferré, M.
AU - Corella, Dolores
AU - La Vecchia, C.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Health (Instituto de Salud Carlos III) , the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad-Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) (grants CIBER 06/03, PI16/00366 and SAF2016–80532-R ), the Fundació la Marató de TV3 (grant 538/U/2016 ), the Generalitat Valenciana (grant PROMETEO 2017/017 ) and the Italian Association of Research on Cancer (AIRC) . None of these entities were involved with the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report or the decision to submit the article for publication.
Funding Information:
This study was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Health (Instituto de Salud Carlos III), the Ministerio de Econom?a y Competitividad-Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) (grants CIBER 06/03, PI16/00366 and SAF2016?80532-R), the Fundaci? la Marat? de TV3 (grant 538/U/2016), the Generalitat Valenciana (grant PROMETEO 2017/017) and the Italian Association of Research on Cancer (AIRC). None of these entities were involved with the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report or the decision to submit the article for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019
PY - 2019/6
Y1 - 2019/6
N2 - More than 50 years after the Seven Countries Study, a large number of epidemiological studies have explored the relationship between the Mediterranean diet (MD) and health, through observational, case-control, some longitudinal and a few experimental studies. The overall results show strong evidence suggesting a protective effect of the MD mainly on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and certain types of cancer. The beneficial effects have been attributed to the types of food consumed, total dietary pattern, components in the food, cooking techniques, eating behaviors and lifestyle behaviors, among others. The aim of this article is to review and summarize the knowledge derived from the literature focusing on the benefits of the MD on health, including those that have been extensively investigated (CVD, cancer) along with more recent issues such as mental health, immunity, quality of life, etc. The review begins with a brief description of the MD and its components. Then we present a review of studies evaluating metabolic biomarkers and genotypes in relation to the MD. Other sections are dedicated to observation and intervention studies for various pathologies. Finally, some insights into the relationship between the MD and sustainability are explored. In conclusion, the research undertaken on metabolomics approaches has identified potential markers for certain MD components and patterns, but more investigation is needed to obtain valid measures. Further evaluation of gene-MD interactions are also required to better understand the mechanisms by which the MD diet exerts its beneficial effects on health. Observation and intervention studies, particularly PREDIMED, have provided invaluable data on the benefits of the MD for a wide range of chronic diseases. However further research is needed to explore the effects of other lifestyle components associated with Mediterranean populations, its environmental impact, as well as the MD extrapolation to non-Mediterranean contexts.
AB - More than 50 years after the Seven Countries Study, a large number of epidemiological studies have explored the relationship between the Mediterranean diet (MD) and health, through observational, case-control, some longitudinal and a few experimental studies. The overall results show strong evidence suggesting a protective effect of the MD mainly on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and certain types of cancer. The beneficial effects have been attributed to the types of food consumed, total dietary pattern, components in the food, cooking techniques, eating behaviors and lifestyle behaviors, among others. The aim of this article is to review and summarize the knowledge derived from the literature focusing on the benefits of the MD on health, including those that have been extensively investigated (CVD, cancer) along with more recent issues such as mental health, immunity, quality of life, etc. The review begins with a brief description of the MD and its components. Then we present a review of studies evaluating metabolic biomarkers and genotypes in relation to the MD. Other sections are dedicated to observation and intervention studies for various pathologies. Finally, some insights into the relationship between the MD and sustainability are explored. In conclusion, the research undertaken on metabolomics approaches has identified potential markers for certain MD components and patterns, but more investigation is needed to obtain valid measures. Further evaluation of gene-MD interactions are also required to better understand the mechanisms by which the MD diet exerts its beneficial effects on health. Observation and intervention studies, particularly PREDIMED, have provided invaluable data on the benefits of the MD for a wide range of chronic diseases. However further research is needed to explore the effects of other lifestyle components associated with Mediterranean populations, its environmental impact, as well as the MD extrapolation to non-Mediterranean contexts.
KW - Food policy
KW - Genomics
KW - Mediterranean diet
KW - Metabolomics
KW - Observational studies
KW - Randomized controlled trials
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85068267308&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.mam.2019.06.001
DO - 10.1016/j.mam.2019.06.001
M3 - Review
C2 - 31254553
AN - SCOPUS:85068267308
SN - 0098-2997
VL - 67
SP - 1
EP - 55
JO - Molecular Aspects of Medicine
JF - Molecular Aspects of Medicine
ER -
