Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Nov;92(5):1189-96. Epub 2010 Sep 1.

Sofi F, Abbate R, Gensini GF, Casini A.

Department of Medical and Surgical Critical Care, Thrombosis Centre, University of Florence, Florence, Italy. francescosofi@gmail.com

Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Mediterranean diet has long been reported to be protective against the occurrence of several different health outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to update our previous meta-analysis of published cohort prospective studies that investigated the effects of adherence to the Mediterranean diet on health status.

DESIGN: We conducted a comprehensive literature search through electronic databases up to June 2010.

RESULTS: The updated review process showed 7 prospective studies published in the past 2 y that were not included in the previous meta-analysis (1 study for overall mortality, 3 studies for cardiovascular incidence or mortality, 1 study for cancer incidence or mortality, and 2 studies for neurodegenerative diseases). These recent studies included 2 health outcomes not previously investigated (ie, mild cognitive impairment and stroke). The meta-analysis for all studies with a random-effects model that was conducted after the inclusion of these recent studies showed that a 2-point increase in adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a significant reduction of overall mortality [relative risk (RR) = 0.92; 95% CI: 0.90, 0.94], cardiovascular incidence or mortality (RR = 0.90; 95% CI: 0.87, 0.93), cancer incidence or mortality (RR = 0.94; 95% CI: 0.92, 0.96), and neurodegenerative diseases (RR = 0.87; 95% CI: 0.81, 0.94). The meta-regression analysis showed that sample size was the most significant contributor to the model because it significantly influenced the estimate of the association for overall mortality.

CONCLUSION: This updated meta-analysis confirms, in a larger number of subjects and studies, the significant and consistent protection provided by adherence to the Mediterranean diet in relation to the occurrence of major chronic degenerative diseases.

PMID: 20810976 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

OBJECTIVE: Previous research in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has focused on individual dietary components. There is converging evidence that composite dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean diet (MeDi) is related to lower risk for cardiovascular disease, several forms of cancer, and overall mortality. We sought to investigate the association between MeDi and risk for AD. METHODS: A total of 2,258 community-based nondemented individuals in New York were prospectively evaluated every 1.5 years. Adherence to the MeDi (zero- to nine-point scale with higher scores indicating higher adherence) was the main predictor in models that were adjusted for cohort, age, sex, ethnicity, education, apolipoprotein E genotype, caloric intake, smoking, medical comorbidity index, and body mass index. RESULTS: There were 262 incident AD cases during the course of 4 (+/-3.0; range, 0.2-13.9) years of follow-up. Higher adherence to the MeDi was associated with lower risk for AD (hazard ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.83-0.98; p=0.015). Compared with subjects in the lowest MeDi tertile, subjects in the middle MeDi tertile had a hazard ratio of 0.85 (95% confidence interval, 0.63-1.16) and those at the highest tertile had a hazard ratio of 0.60 (95% confidence interval, 0.42-0.87) for AD (p for trend=0.007). INTERPRETATION: We conclude that higher adherence to the MeDi is associated with a reduction in risk for AD. Ann Neurol 2006.

 

Scarmeas N, Stern Y, Tang MX, Mayeux R, Luchsinger JA.

Taub Institute for Research in Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain, New York, NY 10032, USA. ns257@columbia.edu

Ann Neurol. 2006 Jun;59(6):912-21.