The Mother of All Meta-Analyses

If you ever needed convincing of anything, this super meta-analysis will convince you about the benefits of the Mediterranean Diet. It was done in Florence, Italy, and has been published in the British Medical Journal.

This was a meta-analysis of all the available prospective studies that assessed the association between adherence to a Mediterranean diet and adverse outcomes, such as dearth or the onset of chronic diseases. English and non-English publications in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from 1966 to 30 June 2008 provided the data.

There were 12 studies that fulfilled the strict selection criteria, with over 1.5 million subjects, who were followed for between 3 and 18 years. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet was scored; for this purpose, the components of the diet were considered to be: vegetables, fruits, legumes, cereals, fish, and a moderate intake of red wine during meals .

A two-point increase in the adherence score was significantly linked with a reduced risk of mortality. Likewise, greater adherence had a beneficial effect on cardiovascular mortality, the occurrence or mortality of cancer, and the incidence of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. The size of the effects ranged from a 6% decrease to a 13% decrease in risk. The authors of the study believe these results are clinically relevant for public health, in particular for encouraging a Mediterranean-like dietary pattern for prevention of major chronic diseases. I particularly like the red wine with meals.