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. 2018 Mar 31;10(4):439.
doi: 10.3390/nu10040439.

Mediterranean Diet and Health Outcomes in the SUN Cohort

Silvia Carlos  1   2 , Carmen De La Fuente-Arrillaga  3   4   5 , Maira Bes-Rastrollo  6   7   8 , Cristina Razquin  9   10   11 , Anaïs Rico-Campà  12   13   14 , Miguel Angel Martínez-González  15   16   17 , Miguel Ruiz-Canela  18   19   20
Affiliations

Mediterranean Diet and Health Outcomes in the SUN Cohort

Silvia Carlos et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

The Mediterranean Dietary (MedDiet) Pattern has been linked to many beneficial health effects. This review summarizes the main findings of a prospective cohort study, the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) cohort, specifically focused on MedDiet and the risk of major chronic disease. It is an open cohort in which 22,786 Spanish university graduates have participated since 1999 until February 2018. Data on diet, lifestyle and clinical diagnosis are collected at baseline and every two years. After reviewing 21 publications from the SUN cohort on the effects of the MedDiet, we conclude that this cohort has provided good evidence that a high MedDiet adherence is associated with a reduced incidence of all-cause mortality, fatal and non-fatal major cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes, weight gain, metabolic syndrome, depression, cognitive decline, and nephrolithiasis. An inverse dose-response relationship was found for many of these associations. The MedDiet was also associated with lower average heart rate, a mitigation of the harmful effects of overweight/obesity on the risk of CVD, and an attenuation of the effects of obesity on type 2 diabetes. A suggestion that the MedDiet may enhance fertility was also found.

Keywords: Mediterranean Diet; adherence; cardiovascular; chronic disease; cognitive decline; depression; diabetes; metabolic; nephrolithiasis; weight.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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