Mediterranean diet and life expectancy; beyond olive oil, fruits, and vegetables

Abstract

Purpose to review the recent relevant evidence of the effects of the Mediterranean diet and lifestyle on health (2015 and first months of 2016). Recent findings Large observational prospective epidemiological studies with adequate control of confounding and two large randomized trials support the benefits of the Mediterranean dietary pattern to increase life expectancy, reduce the risk of major chronic disease, and improve quality of life and well-being. Recently, 19 new reports from large prospective studies showed –with nearly perfect consistency– strong benefits of the Mediterranean diet to reduce the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, total mortality, heart failure and disability. Interestingly, two large and well-conducted cohorts reported significant cardiovascular benefits after using repeated measurements of diet during a long follow-up period. Besides, PREDIMED, the largest randomized trial with Mediterranean diet, recently reported benefits of this dietary pattern to prevent cognitive decline and breast cancer. Summary In the era of evidence-based medicine, the Mediterranean diet represents the gold standard in preventive medicine, probably due to the harmonic combination of many elements with antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties, which overwhelm any single nutrient or food item. The whole seems more important than the sum of its parts.

A comparison between two healthy diet scores, the modified Mediterranean diet score and the Healthy Nordic Food Index, in relation to all-cause and cause-specific mortality

“…The combined analysis was performed for all-cause mortality but not for cause-specific death because of limited number of cases in some of the cells. Covariates for the present analyses were chosen using directed acyclic graphs (33) , and the multivariable model I included educational level (≤9, 10-12, >12 years, other), living alone (yes or no), physical activity (five categories), energy intake (continuous), smoking habits (current, former, never) and Charlson's weighted comorbidity index (continuous; [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. We further included the other diet score (HNFI or mMED) in an additional model (model II) and stratified the analysis of one diet score on every category of the other.…”

Feasibility of Low Fermentable Oligosaccharide, Disaccharide, Monosaccharide, and Polyol Diet and Its Effects on Quality of Life in an Italian Cohort

“…Alcohol is moderately consumed during meals. The total intake of lipids can be approximately 40% of the total intake, with a high ratio of unsaturated lipids due to the high monounsaturated content of olive oil, which is used as the main culinary fat [13].…”

The Mediterranean diet, an environmentally friendly option: evidence from the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) cohort

“…The Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) is characterized by the consumption of high amounts of vegetables, cereals (mostly unrefined), legumes, nuts and olive oil as the main source of fats, moderate intakes of fish and dairy products, low quantities of meat and meat products, and an optional moderate wine consumption (1)(2)(3) . Epidemiological studies have associated the MedDiet with a higher nutrient adequacy (4,5) and several investigations confirm its role in prevention of chronic diseases (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13) . Moreover, this pattern should not be considered like a set of foods only, but also as a cultural model.…”