. 2022 Dec 1;14(23):5115. doi: 10.3390/nu14235115

Table 2.

The most relevant health benefits from good adherence to the Mediterranean diet found in some of the main prospective studies of the last decade. Data inserted refer to a fixed-effects model.

Health Outcomes	Unit of Intake	RR (95% C.I.)	N° of Prospective Studies	References
Mediterranean Diet
All-cause mortality	Highest vs. Lowest	No data
	2-Point Increase MDS	0.92 (0.91–0.93)	7	[83]
	2-Point Increase MDS	0.90 (0.89–0.91)	28	[84]
Total CVDs mortality	Highest vs. Lowest	0.79 (0.77–0.82)	21	[85]
Total CVDs mortality	2-Point Increase MDS	0.91 (0.87–0.96)	26
Total CVDs incidence	Highest vs. Lowest	/	8
	2-Point Increase MDS	0.90 (0.87–0.92) ^a	8	[83]
	2-Point Increase MDS	0.90 (0.85–0.96)	12	[85]
CHD mortality	Highest vs. Lowest	0.73 (0.59–0.89)	6
CHD mortality	2-Point Increase MDS	0.94 (0.91–0.96)	6
CHD incidence	Highest vs. Lowest	0.73 (0.62–0.86)	7
CHD incidence	2-Point Increase MDS	0.80 (0.76–0.85)	8
Stroke mortality	Highest vs. Lowest	0.87 (0.80–0.96)	4
Stroke mortality	2-Point Increase MDS	/	6
Stroke incidence	Highest vs. Lowest	0.80 (0.71–0.90)	5
Stroke incidence	2-Point Increase MDS	0.90 (0.85–0.96)	10
HBP	Highest vs. Lowest	No data
HBP	2-Point Increase MDS	No data
CHF	Highest vs. Lowest	No data
CHF	2-Point Increase MDS	No data
T2D	Highest vs. Lowest	0.87 (0.82–0.93)	6	[86]
T2D	2-Point Increase MDS	No data
Overweight/Obesity	Highest vs. Lowest	No data
Overweight/Obesity	2-Point Increase MDS	No data
MetS	Highest vs. Lowest	0.73 (0.54–0.98)	4	[87]
MetS	2-Point Increase MDS	No data
NDDs	Highest vs. Lowest	0.74 (0.65–0.84) ^b	12	[88]
NDDs	2-Point Increase MDS	0.87 (0.81–0.94)	4	[89]
Total cancer mortality	Highest vs. Lowest	0.87 (0.82–0.92)	18	[90]
Total cancer mortality	2-Point Increase MDS	No data
Total cancer incidence	Highest vs. Lowest	No data
Total cancer incidence	2-Point Increase MDS	0.96 (0.95–0.97) ^a	8	[83]
CRC ^c	Highest vs. Lowest	0.92 (0.87–0.99)	10	[90]
CRC ^c	2-Point Increase MDS	No data
Breast cancer ^c	Highest vs. Lowest	0.97 (0.94–1.00)	12	[90]
Breast cancer ^c	2-Point Increase MDS	No data
Gastric cancer ^c	Highest vs. Lowest	0.77 (0.64–0.92) ^d	4	[90]
Gastric cancer ^c	2-Point Increase MDS	No data
Respiratory tract cancers ^c	Highest vs. Lowest	0.84 (0.76–0.94) ^d	5	[90]
Respiratory tract cancers ^c	2-Point Increase MDS	No data

^a: Combination of mortality and incidence; ^b: in this case, the risk of cognitive impairment, any type of dementia, and Alzheimer’s dementia, specifically, were considered at the same time; ^c: for most of the site-specific cancers, as well as for inflammatory and metabolic parameters, the evidence was interpreted as only suggestive and weak, and further research is needed for these outcomes [88]; ^d: compared to breast and colorectal cancers, the number of observational studies considered is lower. CHD = coronary heart disease; CHF = chronic heart failure; CRC = colorectal cancer; CVDs = cardiovascular diseases; HBP = high blood pressure; MDS = Mediterranean diet score [91]; MetS = metabolic syndrome; NDDs = neurodegenerative diseases/disorders; T2D = type 2 diabetes.