TABLE 2.

Summary of clinical studies of the Mediterranean diet pattern

Outcome	Study type	Sample size	Treatment	Reference
A Mediterranean diet pattern may be effective in reducing the prevalence of metabolic syndrome	Interventional	180 adults with metabolic syndrome	Control—received advice to eat generalized healthful diet	Esposito et al. (77)
			Treatment—received personalized advice to consume a Mediterranean diet pattern
Consumption of a plant-based diet, consistent with high-level adherence to the Mediterranean diet pattern, is associated with beneficial microbiome-related metabolomic profiles	Cross-sectional	153 individuals following omnivore, vegetarian, or vegan diet	NA1	De Filippis et al. (81)
Adherence to a Mediterranean diet pattern was negatively associated with plasma endotoxin concentrations (evaluated by ELISA) and major adverse cardiovascular events; however, no inflammatory markers were included	Prospective	912 patients with atrial fibrillation	NA	Pastori et al. (96)

¹NA, not available.