Table 2.

Characteristics of studies describing the effects of a Mediterranean diet on cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).

Type of Study	Number of Participants	Primary Outcomes	Year of Publication
Clinical trial	11,323	Reduction in mortality after myocardial infarction	2003 [67]
Multi-center, prospective cohort study	519,978	Reduction in mortality among coronary patients Reduction in overall mortality among apparently healthy individuals	2007 [68]
Cohort study	40,011	Adherence to a Mediterranean style diet inversely associates with total CVD, in particular with fatal CVD	2012 [69]
Literature review	-	Analysis of the effects of whole and parts of MeD, with regard to population-based and experimental data, highlighting CVD morbidity, mortality and CVD surrogates	2015 [70]
Prospective cohort design	25,994	Risk reduction in CVD events	2018 [71]
Parallel-group, multicenter, randomized trial	7447	Reduction in incidence of major CV events in persons at high CV risk	2018 [72]
Systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies	-	Protective effect of MeD against the risk of CVD	2019 [73]
Literature review	-	Role exerted by foods, commonly consumed in the Mediterranean area, in prevention and progression of different types of CVDs and cancer	2019 [23]
Article (brief communication)	-	Oleocanthal, contained in extra virgin olive oil, has an Ibuprofen-like activity	2005 [74]
Multicenter, randomized, controlled, clinical trial	7216	Extra virgin olive oil consumption is associated with a reduced risk of CVD and mortality in a Mediterranean population at high CV risk	2014 [75]
Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials	-	MeD decreases inflammation and improves endothelial function	2014 [76]
Randomized controlled trial	612	Polyphenol consumption could exert a protective effect against some CV risk factors	2016 [77]
Umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials	-	Beneficial effect on anthropometric parameters and cardiometabolic risk factors	2020 [78]