The Mediterranean Diet and Nutritional Adequacy: A Review

Abstract

The Mediterranean dietary pattern, through a healthy profile of fat intake, low proportion of carbohydrate, low glycemic index, high content of dietary fiber, antioxidant compounds, and anti-inflammatory effects, reduces the risk of certain pathologies, such as cancer or Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). Nutritional adequacy is the comparison between the nutrient requirement and the intake of a certain individual or population. In population groups, the prevalence of nutrient inadequacy can be assessed by the probability approach or using the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) cut-point method. However, dietary patterns can also be used as they have moderate to good validity to assess adequate intakes of some nutrients. The objective of this study was to review the available evidence on the Nutritional Adequacy of the Mediterranean Diet. The inclusion of foods typical of the Mediterranean diet and greater adherence to this healthy pattern was related to a better nutrient profile, both in children and adults, with a lower prevalence of individuals showing inadequate intakes of micronutrients. Therefore, the Mediterranean diet could be used in public health nutrition policies in order to prevent micronutrient deficiencies in the most vulnerable population groups.

Telómeros Y Calidad De La Dieta: Una Revision Sistematica

“…Aparte de una mejor calidad de la grasa y de sus efectos antiinflamatorios y antioxidantes, también se ha demostrado que estar en los niveles más altos de adherencia a un patrón dietético mediterráneo se asocia con un menor riesgo de ingesta inadecuada (138). Las principales características de la dieta mediterránea son el uso habitual del aceite de oliva y la abundancia de alimentos derivados de plantas, que incluyen frutas, verduras, legumbres, nueces y granos enteros, asegurando así un amplio suministro de fibra y antioxidantes, todos ellos agentes protectores del telómero (132).…”

Med Diet 4.0: the Mediterranean diet with four sustainable benefits

“…In support of all these diet-health connections, recent studies have clearly underlined the nutritional quality of an MDP. Persons who adhere closely to an MDP fulfil their micronutrient requirements much better than persons on a typical Western diet (61,62) . Computer-assisted modelling of individual diets identified that the most important foods that enable people to fulfil nutritional requirements (except for vitamin D) are those characteristic of the MDP (63) .…”

Health benefits and consequences of the Eastern Orthodox fasting in monks of Mount Athos: a cross-sectional study

“…A plethora of previous research highlighted the Mediterranean diet as an ideal paradigm of a health promoting diet (1,2) that can play an important role in the prevention of cardiometabolic diseases (3,4). Since the pioneering work of Keys et al (5), in Crete, Greece, the cradle of the Mediterranean diet, several studies showed that the benefits of the Mediterranean diet are primarily due to the high intake of vegetables, fruits, cereals (preferably whole grain),the moderate intake of fish, dairy products and red wine, and to the limited intake of meat (6, 7).…”