Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Jun 25:8:680452.
doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.680452. eCollection 2021.

Introducing Plant-Based Mediterranean Diet as a Lifestyle Medicine Approach in Latin America: Opportunities Within the Chilean Context

Catalina Figueroa  1 , Guadalupe Echeverría  1   2 , Grisell Villarreal  3 , Ximena Martínez  3 , Catterina Ferreccio  4 , Attilio Rigotti  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Introducing Plant-Based Mediterranean Diet as a Lifestyle Medicine Approach in Latin America: Opportunities Within the Chilean Context

Catalina Figueroa et al. Front Nutr. .

Abstract

Latin America is experiencing a significant epidemiological and nutritional transition, with a trend toward higher incidence of food-related chronic diseases. In this context, Lifestyle Medicine (LM) is a growing field focused on assisting individuals in adopting healthy behaviors for the prevention and treatment of these chronic diseases, including, among other pillars, a great emphasis on healthy eating. There is also a growing interest worldwide in environmental sustainability of dietary patterns, with increasing concern about their effects on planetary health. In this context, whole-food, plant-based diets -such as the Mediterranean diet (MD)- have emerged as a solution for both healthier eating and lowering environmental impact. Yet in order to be effective at these goals and achieve a high adherence to any nutritional prescription, the sociocultural reality of the community or population where we aim to practice must also be taken into account. In this review, we specifically highlight the plant-based MD as a LM-contextualized dietary pattern that is adaptable, applicable, and sustainable within the Chilean context and has the potential to address the current trend of chronic diseases in our country.

Keywords: Latin America; Mediterranean diet; chronic diseases - prevention and control; cultural adaptability; lifestyle medicine; planetary health; plant based diet.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

References

    1. Menke A, Casagrande S, Geiss L, Cowie CC. Prevalence of and trends in diabetes among adults in the United States, 1988-2012. JAMA. (2015) 314:1021–9. 10.1001/jama.2015.10029 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hales CM, Carroll MD, Fryar CD, Ogden CL. Prevalence of Obesity and Severe Obesity Among Adults: United States, 2017-2018. NCHS Data Brief, no 360. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics; (2020) Available online at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db360-h.pdf (accessed November 19, 2020).
    1. GBD 2015 Risk Factors Collaborators. Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioral, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Lancet. (2016) 388:1659–724. 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31679-8 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. GBD 2017Diet Collaborators. Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet. (2019) 393:1958–72. 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30041-8 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Albala C, Vio F, Yáñez M. Transición epidemiológica en América Latina: comparación de cuatro países. Rev Med Chile. (1997) 125:719–27. - PubMed