Mediterranean diet and multiple health outcomes: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of observational studies and randomised trials
Umbrella review synthesising 13 observational meta-analyses and 16 RCT meta-analyses (37 outcomes; >12.8 million participants in observational strata) reports highly consistent associations between higher Mediterranean diet adherence and lower risks of mortality, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and selected neurodegenerative outcomes under the authors' evidence-classification rules.
Design
- Umbrella review across 29 meta-analyses (13 observational + 16 RCT)
- 37 outcomes with formal evidence grading
Class I (highly significant) signals (per abstract)
Greater adherence associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality, CVD, CHD, MI, overall cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and diabetes among other highly rated endpoints.
Evidence hygiene
Umbrella-of-meta-analyses tier—does not replace reading PREDIMED/DASH individual trial rows for numeric MACE or BP deltas; watch for overlap of cohorts across pooled observational reviews.
Publication
Dinu M, Pagliai G, Casini A, Sofi F. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2018 Jan;72(1):30-43. PMID 28488692.
Outcomes
- Evidence class I (authors' criteria: p<0.001, large sample, low heterogeneity): greater Mediterranean adherence vs lower adherence linked to lower incidence for all-cause mortality, CVD, CHD, MI, overall cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and diabetes among umbrella-graded outcomes.